Daijiworld Media Network - Kinshasa

Kinshasa, Sep 28: Confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have crossed 8,000, with health authorities reporting 8,067 cases and 3,901 deaths as the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned that the outbreak remains widespread and continues to expand geographically.

According to the latest government situation report released on Monday, the cases were recorded as of Saturday. The case fatality rate stood at 48.4 per cent, while 2,070 patients have recovered, Xinhua News Agency reported.

In its latest Disease Outbreak News published on Friday, the WHO said the number of new Ebola cases reported each day remained high, although the intensity of transmission varied significantly across affected provinces and health zones.

"The continuously high case fatality ratio, and especially the continuous high rate of deaths occurring in communities, highlights the seriousness of the disease and the persistent challenges in timely case detection and access to early and adequate patient care," the WHO said.

Ituri Province continues to be the epicentre of the outbreak, although transmission patterns differ across the affected regions.

The WHO said incidence in Ituri had gradually declined from a peak recorded in mid-August. However, North Kivu Province witnessed a substantial increase in cases, reaching its highest reported level in mid-September.

Sustained transmission has also been reported in Haut-Uele Province, while Tshopo Province has witnessed renewed transmission activity.

The outbreak has so far spread to 63 health zones across seven provinces. The WHO said the latest geographic expansion, including newly affected areas in Sud-Ubangi and Haut-Uele, had heightened the risk of cross-border transmission.

Declared in May, the outbreak has become the largest and deadliest Ebola outbreak ever recorded in the DRC and the second-largest Ebola outbreak globally, after the 2014-2016 epidemic in West Africa.