The death toll from the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, has risen to 4,018, with 8,300 confirmed cases recorded across seven provinces.
The figures were contained in data released by the Congolese government on Friday, as health authorities intensify efforts to contain the spread of the virus.
The outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo species of Ebola, is the largest and deadliest recorded in the DRC, surpassing the outbreaks recorded between 2018 and 2020.
Government figures also show that more than 2,000 patients have recovered from the disease.
The outbreak is currently the second-deadliest Ebola epidemic on record, after the 2014–2016 West African outbreak, which recorded more than 28,600 cases and over 11,000 deaths across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
The Congolese government and the United Nations said last month that transmission had begun to slow in some parts of Ituri Province, where the outbreak started.
However, the latest government data indicate that the virus continues to spread in eastern DRC, including neighbouring North Kivu Province.
South Ubangi Province in north-western DRC became the seventh affected province last month after a man who had travelled from eastern DRC died from the virus.
The rising figures highlight the challenges facing health authorities as they intensify efforts to contain the outbreak across the affected provinces.
