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Confirmed Ebola cases in Congo top 2,000, with 754 dead

Doctors from various countries in East Africa train in safe practices at an Ebola treatment center as part of the tEACH project, which is being carried out jointly by experts from the Institute of Global Health and the Department of Infectious Diseases and Critical Care Medicine at Charite. (German press agency)
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dpa

German Press Agency

NAIROBI, Kenya – More than 2,000 people have now been confirmed to have contracted Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the country’s Information Ministry said Wednesday.

The ministry said the number of confirmed cases has reached 2,011, including 754 deaths. A total of 753 patients are currently being treated in hospitals and isolation centers.

Authorities are tracking cases across five provinces, with the northeastern province of Ituri remaining the center of the outbreak. Ituri borders Uganda and South Sudan. Uganda has also recorded Ebola cases, including two deaths.

The Congolese Information Ministry said it was encouraged that no new cases have been reported in South Kivu province for 47 days.

Ebola is a life-threatening viral disease transmitted through direct contact with infected people and their bodily fluids.

The current outbreak has proved particularly difficult to contain because there is currently neither a specific vaccine nor a targeted treatment for the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus. Clinical trials of two antiviral therapies have been under way since early July.