KINSHASA, June 16 (Xinhua) -- The number of confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has risen to 837, including 196 deaths, as health authorities and international partners warned that the outbreak continues to deteriorate with sustained community transmission and geographic expansion.
According to the latest figures released by the DRC health ministry, the case fatality rate stood at 23.4 percent. A total of 49 patients had recovered, while 376 patients remained in isolation.
The outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo Ebola virus, remains concentrated in major hotspot zones, particularly Bunia, Mongbwalu and Rwampara in the Ituri province.
According to a report published Tuesday by the World Health Organization (WHO), the widening geographic distribution of affected health zones, persistent transmission in urban and mining-linked settings, suboptimal contact follow-up rates in some provinces and ongoing insecurity in affected areas continue to complicate response operations and increase the risk of further spread within the DRC and to neighboring countries.
WHO said that the outbreak continued to deteriorate, with sustained community transmission, increasing numbers of cases and deaths, and ongoing geographic expansion across Ituri and North Kivu provinces. Spread into newly affected zones highlighted continued expansion beyond the initial epicenters, the report said.
In neighboring Uganda, according to WHO, no new confirmed cases were reported during the reporting period. However, the continued epidemiological link to transmission in the DRC underscores the ongoing risk of cross-border spread and secondary transmission. Uganda has reported 19 confirmed cases, including 2 deaths, said on Tuesday the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in a daily update.
In North Kivu, provincial health authorities said that a woman and her child who had tested positive for Ebola were taken away late Monday by "armed men". The WHO said that response efforts remain constrained by multiple factors, including community resistance in affected areas.
The DRC declared the latest Ebola outbreak on May 15. The affected areas are located in the country's conflict-hit east, where armed violence, displacement and weak health infrastructure have posed persistent challenges to the response.
