DR Congo Ebola cases pass 9,000 as efforts to curb transmission falter

Confirmed Ebola cases have surpassed 9,000 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) outbreak, according to Health Ministry data, as efforts to stifle transmission falter. The ministry reported 9,066 confirmed cases and 4,381 deaths on Tuesday – a death toll of nearly half the known cases. The outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, has become the largest and deadliest in the DRC’s history. Globally, the toll is only second to the 2014 to 2016 West African epidemic, which saw 28,600 confirmed cases and more than 11,000 deaths across Guinea, ⁠⁠Liberia and Sierra Leone, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).