According to the latest data from the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the number of confirmed cases of Ebola fever has for the first time during the current outbreak exceeded 4,000, reports the website infohub.kz.
The total number of infected has reached 4,053, including 1,850 deaths, Reuters reports.
However, experts believe that the infection began spreading several months before the official declaration of the outbreak on May 15, and the real number of cases may be significantly higher than official statistics.
A report published in the journal Science concludes that the outbreak in Congo began in January in Ituri province. Researchers identified more than 500 suspected cases between January and May.
Currently, cases have been recorded in five provinces of the country: Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Haut-Uele, and Tshopo.
It is noted that only the outbreak in West Africa in 2014-2016 was larger, when over 28,000 cases were registered in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.
Earlier, Kursiv reported that in the DRC, a ship heading to the 17-million-strong capital Kinshasa was blocked. The measures were taken after one of the passengers died from Ebola symptoms.
It was also reported that the outbreak in Congo began in mid-May. The cause was the Bundibugyo strain, for which there is no vaccine or specific treatment yet. Drugs are still being developed, with release dates estimated at least six months away.
Recall that Ebola is not transmitted by airborne droplets. Infection occurs only through direct contact with the biological fluids of an infected person.