The Democratic Republic of Congo has recorded more than 7,000 Ebola cases in what authorities describe as the country’s worst outbreak of the deadly disease.
The latest outbreak, officially detected in mid-May, has so far claimed 3,398 lives, according to the latest figures from Congolese authorities.
A total of 7,022 cases have been recorded since the beginning of the epidemic, while 1,671 people have recovered.
The outbreak began in the northeastern Ituri province before spreading to conflict-affected and remote areas in eastern and northern parts of the country, where armed groups have operated for decades and health infrastructure remains limited.
The disease was also recently confirmed in South-Ubangi province, which borders the Central African Republic and Congo-Brazzaville.
Most of the cases have been recorded in Ituri, where Ebola has been detected in schools following the return of pupils after the summer holiday.
The development has raised concerns among parents and health workers, particularly in Bunia, the provincial capital.
“We are very worried because we don’t know which child comes from which family or what the health status of the members of that family is,” a parent, Angele Magani, told AFP.
School authorities said precautionary measures had been introduced, including mandatory handwashing with soap and limiting classrooms to a maximum of 30 pupils.
Ebola is transmitted through contact with bodily fluids and can cause severe internal and external bleeding as well as organ failure. The disease has killed more than 15,000 people in Africa over the past five decades.
