The Ebola outbreak in the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo is spreading into new areas, the World Health Organization warned Friday.
Much more needs to be done to get on top of the virus, the WHO said, with isolation bed capacity far below anticipated needs given how it is spreading.
Since the outbreak was declared on May 15, there have been 676 confirmed Ebola cases, including 136 deaths in the DRC, according to the latest figures from the WHO.
There are a further 119 suspected cases, while 32 patients have recovered.
No approved vaccines or treatments exist for the rare Bundibugyo species of the virus responsible for the current outbreak, which is centred on Ituri province, with cases also detected in North Kivu and South Kivu provinces.
“The outbreak continues to expand both in terms of case numbers but also in terms of geographic spread,” said Olivier le Polain, the WHO’s head of epidemiology and analytics for response.
