Ebola in Africa: Nearly 5,400 Dead in Record DRC Outbreak

The epidemic, caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus, has infected more than 10,000 people since May and spread to Kenya, Uganda, and Nigeria.

The latest Ebola outbreak in Africa has claimed nearly 5,400 lives, the vast majority in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), according to the continent's leading public health agency.

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) told AFP on Monday that the outbreak, which has spread to other countries across the continent, has resulted in 5,376 deaths, including 5,372 in the DRC, two in Kenya, and two in Uganda.

The outbreak, which began in the DRC in May, has infected more than 10,000 people, with a case fatality rate exceeding 50%, according to the country's latest figures as of October 31, making it the fastest-spreading and most extensive Ebola epidemic ever recorded.

Neighboring Uganda recorded 20 cases, nearly all involving individuals who had traveled from the DRC, before being declared Ebola-free in August.

In October, Kenya recorded nine infections, marking the first time the country had ever reported an Ebola case.

That same month, Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, reported an Ebola case involving a 42-year-old Swiss woman whose husband works at her country's embassy in Abuja. The couple had traveled to Uganda before returning home.

The outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus, for which no vaccine or treatment is approved. The virus is transmitted through contact with bodily fluids and causes hemorrhagic fever.

In recent weeks, clinical trials of the Ervebo vaccine, which has proven effective against the more common Zaire strain of Ebola, have begun.

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Democratic Republic of the Congo