Congo-Kinshasa: Ebola Deaths Top 2,000 As Scientists Race to Develop Vaccine

BREAKING: Ebola deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo top 2,000, with half recorded in the last 20 days, as scientists race to develop a vaccine.

Ebola has now killed more than 2,000 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Half of those deaths came in just the last 20 days.

This outbreak was declared on 15 May, and it's already the second largest in history, with more than 4,000 confirmed cases and the fastest growth ever recorded. These are health workers on the ground now, in full protective gear, trying to contain it. The strain is Bundibugyo, and there is no approved vaccine and no approved treatment for it. Local officials fear the virus may be mutating, and WHO chief Tedros has met Africa's CDC director to assess exactly that threat.

The response is being hindered by armed groups in eastern Congo, and at least a dozen treatment facilities have been attacked. Most patients are dying in their communities before a doctor ever sees them.

Vaccine trials are now authorised in Canada and the UK. So the question that matters, does a Bundibugyo vaccine get emergency authorisation for use in the DRC by the end of the year.

This is Liu Yang, reporting for HIT.

Source Read the original reporting at allafrica.com