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DRC Ebola Outbreak May Become Worst Ever, WHO Warns
🇲🇽 Mexico /Health & Science

DRC Ebola Outbreak May Become Worst Ever, WHO Warns

From El Universal · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • The current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo could become the worst in history, according to the World Health Organization.
  • The outbreak has recorded approximately 4,400 cases with over 2,000 deaths, progressing faster than previous epidemics.
  • The WHO warns it may surpass the 2014-2016 West Africa epidemic, which caused 28,000 infections and 11,000 deaths.

The ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is progressing at an alarming rate and could become the worst in recorded history, the World Health Organization warned. The epidemic has already registered around 4,400 cases, resulting in over 2,000 deaths.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the WHO, stated at a press conference that the current outbreak is the second-worst on record and is advancing more rapidly than any previous epidemic. He cautioned that at its current pace, it could eclipse the devastating West Africa epidemic that spanned from 2014 to 2016.

That earlier outbreak, which primarily affected Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, resulted in approximately 28,000 infections and claimed 11,000 lives. The WHO chief's warning comes a week after his visit to the DRC to assess the response to the ongoing health crisis.

It is already the second worst on record and is advancing faster than any previous outbreak. At the current rate, it may eclipse the epidemic that affected West Africa from 2014 to 2016.

— Tedros Adhanom GhebreyesusWarning about the potential scale of the current Ebola outbreak in the DRC during a press conference.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by El Universal in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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