The cumulative number of Ebola confirmed cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has surpassed 9,000.

According to Reuters on the 13th (local time), the National Institute of Public Health (INSP) of the DRC announced that day that the cumulative number of confirmed Ebola cases in the country has reached 9,066. This is an increase of about 1,000 in just over two weeks since the announcement on the 28th of last month, which reported a total of 8,067 cases. So far, deaths have been tallied at 4,381, recording a fatality rate of 48.3%.

Previously, the DRC declared an Ebola outbreak on May 15th. Originally starting in Ituri Province in the northeastern region, the current Ebola epidemic has now spread to South Ubangi Province in the northwestern region, with infections occurring across a total of seven provinces. This epidemic has surpassed the 2018–2020 outbreak (3,481 confirmed cases, 2,299 deaths), which was previously the largest scale within the DRC, and ranks as the second largest globally, following the 2014–2016 West Africa widespread epidemic (28,616 confirmed cases, 11,310 deaths).

The DRC's Ebola outbreak is also impacting neighboring African countries. East Africa's Kenya announced on the 6th that its first confirmed Ebola case and death had occurred within the country. The confirmed patient and decedent had resided in the DRC for seven years before recently traveling by land to Uganda, entering Kenya by air on the 3rd. Afterward, symptoms such as bleeding appeared, and after being admitted to a hospital in Nairobi, testing positive for Ebola, and receiving treatment, the patient passed away on the night of the 5th. The Kenyan Ministry of Health stated that among 122 people identified as having been in contact with the patient, 108 are currently in quarantine, and although 293 samples have been tested so far, there are no other confirmed cases. In Uganda, which borders the DRC, a total of 20 people—including 15 individuals who entered from the DRC—were confirmed infected with 2 deaths. Following no additional confirmed cases since July, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed the end of the Ebola outbreak in August.

[ⓒ Global Economic Times. 무단전재-재배포 금지]