Ebola Death Toll in DR Congo Passes 5,000 as Outbreak Spreads Across Borders
Written by AI from aljazeera.com's report. Not checked by a person.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo's Ebola death toll surpassed 5,000, with over 10,000 infections recorded since May — making it the deadliest outbreak of the virus in the country's history.
The DRC's ongoing Ebola outbreak passed a devastating milestone when the government announced on Friday that deaths had exceeded 5,000, with total infections surpassing 10,000 since the crisis was declared in May. The outbreak is now the second-largest in Ebola's recorded history, behind only the 2014–2016 West African epidemic that infected more than 28,600 people and killed more than 11,000 across Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.
The current outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain of the virus, for which no approved treatments or vaccines exist, complicating efforts to bring it under control. Delayed detection, ongoing armed conflict, and severely strained health services have accelerated its spread across eight of the DRC's 26 provinces.
The virus has also crossed international borders. Last week, Nigeria became the fourth African country to report a case, extending the outbreak's reach into West Africa. Kenya and Uganda have reported cases as well.
Several governments have responded by restricting travel. Saudi Arabia announced on Friday that it was suspending travel by its citizens to Kenya and halting the issuance of all visa types to Kenyan travellers. The kingdom is also barring entry to travellers arriving from Kenya — including those who transit through third countries — if they have stayed in Kenya or other Ebola-affected countries within the previous 21 days. In June, Saudi Arabia had already imposed similar restrictions on travel to and from the DRC, Uganda, and South Sudan.
