DRC Ebola Outbreak Death Toll Rises to 2,557, Cases Exceed 5,300

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has updated its Ebola outbreak figures, reporting 2,557 deaths and 5,375 confirmed cases. This current epidemic is now the second deadliest and the most contagious in the DRC's history, according to the Ministry of Communication.

As of August 20, the fatality rate for the outbreak is 47.6%. Currently, 737 patients are under isolation or hospitalized, while 1,167 individuals have recovered. The contact tracing rate, which measures the percentage of contacts of infected individuals located by health services, stands at 85.5%, surpassing the target of 85%.

The virus has spread to six Congolese provinces: Ituri (the epicenter), North Kivu, Haut-Uélé, Tshopo, Bas-Uélé, and South Kivu. However, South Kivu has reported no new confirmed cases for 82 days. The DRC Ministry of Health announced the arrival of the first 16,520 doses of the Ervebo vaccine on Friday, part of a total of 50,120 doses expected by August 24.

The Ervebo vaccine, initially developed for the Zaire strain of Ebola, shows potential efficacy against the less common Bundibugyo strain in animal studies. Two other vaccines specifically targeting the Bundibugyo strain are in Phase 1 human trials and have been deemed safe by the World Health Organization (WHO), though their development may take several months. The WHO director-general has warned that the epidemic, declared in eastern DRC on May 15, has the potential to reach the scale of the West African epidemic that caused 11,000 deaths between 2014 and 2016. Investigations suggest the virus began circulating in eastern Congo as early as January.