GENEVA/KINSHASA, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has become the second-largest on record, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned Wednesday, as confirmed cases rose to 4,449 with 2,061 deaths.
"It's already the second-biggest Ebola epidemic on record, and it's moving faster than any previous Ebola outbreak. At its current rate, it's on track to eclipse the West African Ebola outbreak of 2014 to 2016," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press briefing in Geneva.
The latest figures released Wednesday by the DRC's public health authorities showed that the overall case fatality rate stood at 46.3 percent. A total of 716 patients remain in isolation or hospital care, while 886 people have recovered.
Tedros said the outbreak had gained a significant head start before it was detected and that response efforts were still struggling to catch up. "The outbreak had a big head start. It's still way ahead of us and we're playing catch-up," he said.
About 90 percent of all confirmed cases and 80 percent of deaths have been reported in Ituri province, where sustained transmission continues, according to the WHO.
Tedros said a high proportion of deaths continue to occur in communities rather than treatment centers, while many cases are being detected outside known contact lists, indicating that transmission chains remain unidentified.
"Until we know about and break every chain of transmission, we will not stop the outbreak," he said.
The outbreak, caused by Bundibugyo ebolavirus, was declared by the DRC government on May 15.
Chikwe Ihekweazu, executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, said investigations suggest the virus may have been circulating for two to three months before the outbreak was formally detected, although the exact start of transmission remains under investigation. ■
