Congo says the death toll from a fast-growing Ebola outbreak has passed 1,500

The fastest-growing Ebola outbreak has killed more than 1,500 people in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, official data released Thursday showed, marking a 50 percent increase in a week that shows the emergency continues to outpace response efforts.

As of Tuesday, 3,442 cases have been recorded, with 1,521 deaths, according to the latest government update.

The outbreak, which was announced on May 15, is linked to the Bundibugyo virus, for which there is no approved vaccine or treatment.

There are currently 797 patients in isolation or hospitalized, while another 615 patients have recovered, the data said. Contact tracing continues to lag, with only about 78 percent of contacts being tracked nationwide, below the 95 percent target health officials say is needed to curb disease transmission.

Displacement from armed conflict and illegal mining in the region has made it difficult to trace the thousands who have come into contact with infected people.

The outbreak is concentrated in Congo’s eastern Ituri province, which accounts for about 90 percent of the cases, but there have been other confirmed cases in five provinces, including one of the country’s largest cities, Kisangani.

Neighboring Uganda declared it free of Ebola on Tuesday, following the evacuation of the last patient from the country in mid-June.

Ebola is rare but highly contagious and can be acquired through bodily fluids such as vomit, blood or semen. The disease it causes is severe and often fatal.

The latest outbreak has killed more people at a faster rate than any previous outbreak, including from 2014 to 2016, where 28,000 cases were reported, with more than 11,000 deaths. That outbreak took about eight months to reach 1,000 deaths.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says there is little chance of Ebola spreading worldwide because Ebola spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids, not through air, which makes it more difficult to spread than respiratory viruses. Cases detected outside the affected region have so far been identified quickly and contained without leading to further transmission, the agency said.

In Congo, however, the risk of spread remains “very high,” according to the WHO.

Aid workers withdraw following the attack

The speed of infection in the current outbreak comes amid public concern that many communities in the affected states have been inaccessible or abandoned by responders in recent days due to security concerns over attacks by angry citizens and insurgents.

False information claiming that this deadly virus is not true and the ban on traditional burials to reduce the spread of the disease has angered some residents and led to attacks on health facilities.

International partners supporting the Ebola response at the Ituri health center in Nyakunde temporarily moved after an attack on the hospital and treatment center on July 15, which resulted in the death of a patient.

Officials say the deployment of aid groups, including the Africa CDC and Mercy Corps, has hampered surveillance, searches for people and supplies.

Dr. Desire Duabo, the chief medical officer of the health center, said that the partners have provided a lot of equipment, equipment and operational support, warning that the small stocks left are “almost gone.”

Attacks like the one in Nyakunde cause anxiety for health workers and make it difficult for them to do their job, said Pierre Akilimali, the head of the Ebola response at the National Public Health Institute of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

“They are working between the risks of infection and the risks of their own safety,” he said.

Local health officials say security has stabilized and are urging their partners to return, while the Africa CDC says teams can resume work next week.

Last week, Canada began denying entry to foreigners who had traveled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo within the past 21 days. The rating will then be available until August 29.