DR Congo's deadliest Ebola outbreak has now killed more than 2,300 people

• More than 2,300 people have died in DR Congo's deadliest Ebola outbreak on record.

• Nearly 5,000 confirmed cases have been reported, with 101 new infections recorded in one day.

• The outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo Ebola strain, which currently has no approved vaccine.

• WHO and scientists are working to contain the outbreak while vaccine trials are being developed for the rare strain.

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has now become the deadliest the country has ever recorded, with more than 2,300 people losing their lives since the outbreak was declared in May.

According to the BBC, health officials confirmed on Monday that the country had recorded 4,945 confirmed Ebola cases, including 101 new infections within just 24 hours. The rapid increase has raised fresh concerns among global health experts as the virus continues to spread across the country.

So far, the outbreak has reached six of DR Congo's 26 provinces, making it one of the fastest-moving Ebola outbreaks in recent history.

What makes this outbreak even more worrying is that it is being caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus, a rare species that has only caused two known outbreaks before now.

Unlike the more common Zaire strain of Ebola, there is currently no approved vaccine specifically designed to protect people against the Bundibugyo virus.

Public health officials have described the outbreak as moving at an alarming speed. The United Nations humanitarian chief even warned that the disease was killing roughly one person every 30 minutes during the worst period of the outbreak.

Although most infections have remained inside the Democratic Republic of Congo, authorities have confirmed cases in neighbouring Uganda, while a small number of infections have also been detected in Europe.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is working with Congolese health authorities to slow the spread of the virus and hopes to bring transmission under control within three months.

However, experts have stressed that reducing transmission doesn't automatically mean the outbreak is over, as isolated cases can continue to appear for months.

Scientists are also racing to develop vaccines that target the Bundibugyo strain.

One promising candidate has already reached an important milestone after Britain's medicines regulator approved human trials of a vaccine developed by researchers at the University of Oxford. The vaccine uses technology similar to the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine that was widely used during the coronavirus pandemic.

Ebola remains one of the world's deadliest viral diseases. Early symptoms often include fever, headache and extreme weakness before progressing to vomiting, diarrhoea and, in severe cases, internal and external bleeding.

The virus spreads through direct contact with the blood or other bodily fluids of an infected person or contaminated materials.

This latest outbreak is the 17th Ebola outbreak recorded in the Democratic Republic of Congo since the virus was first discovered there about 50 years ago.

Health experts say years of armed conflict, displacement of communities and pressure on the country's already stretched healthcare system have made efforts to contain the disease much more difficult.

With infections still climbing, authorities are expanding surveillance, treatment centres and infection-control measures in a desperate effort to stop the outbreak from spreading further.