DR Congo Ebola cases top 8,000, data show

The Democratic Republic of Congo has recorded 8,067 Ebola cases, including 3,901 deaths, in the worst outbreak in the country's history, according to Congolese authority data seen by AFP on Monday.

The latest official data also listed 2,070 recoveries since the start of the current crisis, putting the fatality rate at 48.4 percent.

DR Congo officially declared its 17th Ebola outbreak in mid-May. The outbreak began in northeastern Ituri province and has spread to seven provinces, with Ituri, North Kivu and Upper-Uele accounting for most recorded cases.

The African Union's health agency, Africa CDC, says the number of cases has levelled off after a rapid increase but that the outbreak is still “not under control.”

Several treatments and vaccines are being trialled against the Bundibugyo strain behind the current outbreak. There is currently no approved vaccine or treatment for that strain.

Congolese health authorities said a health worker responsible for detecting cases was killed in an armed attack at a health checkpoint in North Kivu province. Their latest case report also cited low treatment capacity at health centres in Ituri and a complete shortage of stocks of an experimental Bundibugyo vaccine in Tshopo province.

The first doses of Ervebo, a vaccine proven effective against the more common Zaire strain of Ebola, have been given in recent weeks to frontline health staff volunteers as part of a clinical trial. About 70,000 doses of Ervebo from the global Ebola vaccine stockpile were allocated to DR Congo in August.

The United States announced last week that it was releasing a further $267 million to help fight Ebola.