Ebola Death Toll in One Country Surpasses 4,000... Case Fatality Rate Reaches 48% in Four and a Half Months

[Financial News] The cumulative death toll in the Democratic Republic of the Congo surpassed 4,000 four and a half months after an Ebola outbreak was declared in the African country. With nearly half of confirmed patients having died, concerns are growing that the actual scale of infections may exceed official figures due to residents' distrust and security instability.
According to the DRC Ministry of Health on the 2nd (local time), cumulative confirmed cases stood at 8,300 and deaths at 4,018 as of the 30th of last month. The case fatality rate was 48.4%, while 2,162 people had recovered.
The DRC government announced on the 2nd of last month that cumulative deaths had surpassed 3,000. The death toll rose by around 1,000 in about a month.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said at a recent press conference that the increase in confirmed cases was slowing. However, it explained that this could not necessarily be interpreted solely as a sign that the spread of the infection was slowing. While new infections may actually have declined, surveillance and case counting may have been disrupted by difficulties in securing residents' cooperation in some areas with concentrated outbreaks or by security instability.
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) also pointed out the limitations of the outbreak surveillance system the previous day, warning that the actual scale of infections could be far greater than official figures indicate.
The DRC and the Republic of Uganda declared Ebola outbreaks on May 15.

[email protected] Choi Doo-sun Reporter