DR Congo to experience more cases as Ebola outbreak crosses 2,000 mark

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has crossed the 2,000 mark.

According to the health ministry, there have been 2,025 cases of the disease in the past 10 months.

There have been 1,931 confirmed Ebola cases, 94 probable ones and 1,263 confirmed deaths as of 4 June 2019.

Commenting on the new figures, Dr Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO's health emergencies programme, told the BBC: "We are entering a very new phase of high impact epidemics and this isn't just Ebola. I don't think we've ever had a situation where we're responding to so many emergencies at one time. This is a new normal, I don't expect the frequency of these events to reduce".

DRC ebola outbreak (statista) Pulse Nigeria

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Why Ebola outbreak is on the rise in DR Congo

One reason for this is disbelief. Despite the growing number of people dying from the outbreak, the members of charity Oxfam say there are some people who refuse to believe that the virus exists.

Health workers have also found that some people simply refuse to trust them. This distrust causes many to avoid treatment which makes it a lot easier for the virus to continue spreading.

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Despite the growing cases, the World Health Organisation says the risk of a global spread is low. However, it adds that it is quite possible for the virus to spread into neighbouring countries.

The epidemic disease is believed to have killed more 245 people making it the second deadliest outbreak in history.

DR Congo to experience more cases as Ebola outbreak crosses 2,000 mark - the second highest in history

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