Congo's Ebola outbreak may become deadliest on record, WHO warns
The World Health Organization warned Wednesday that Congo's current Ebola outbreak is on track to become the deadliest in history, surpassing the 2014-2016 West African epidemic that killed over 11,000 people. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the outbreak is spreading faster than containment efforts. The eastern Congo outbreak has killed over 2,000 people from more than 4,300 cases, with the rare Bundibugyo virus having no approved vaccines or treatments. Declared on May 15, sequencing shows it began months earlier in February, and health experts say it had a significant head start in a conflict-affected region. Two vaccines developed specifically for the Bundibugyo virus are now being tested in humans for the first time, and WHO plans to test an existing Ebola vaccine's effectiveness against it. A study published Monday found the virus is genetically distinct from earlier Bundibugyo outbreaks in 2007 and 2012.