The World Health Organization warned Friday that a fatal Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is spreading rapidly.
Health officials are racing to contain the worsening situation gripping the conflict-wracked northeastern provinces of the country.
Marie-Roseline Belizaire, the emergencies chief, stated that the virulent epidemic remains serious and is evolving incredibly fast.
Despite the accelerating pace of the contagion, global health workers are building a response that grows stronger every day.
The outbreak was officially declared on May 15 after silent community transmission had gone undetected for some time.
An uncommon Bundibugyo strain causes this specific infection, leaving medical teams without any approved vaccine or targeted treatment.
The lethal virus has already claimed 232 lives out of 896 laboratory-confirmed cases documented across the region.
The vast majority of these infections are concentrated in Ituri, a province heavily impacted by long-standing regional instability.
Sustained population movements have also carried the dangerous pathogen south into neighboring North Kivu and South Kivu provinces.
Because the virus spreads via close bodily contact, medical teams face an uphill battle to break the chains of transmission.
