Ebola Cases in Congo Pass 10,000 as Outbreak Becomes Country's Deadliest

Confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have passed 10,000, reaching 10,060 according to government data released on Tuesday. The same data show 4,887 deaths, so nearly half of those confirmed as infected have died.

Al Jazeera reports that the outbreak is the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak in the country's history and also the deadliest.

Ebola is a group of viral diseases. The current outbreak was declared on May 15 and is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, a rare strain for which no vaccine or treatment has been approved.

The outbreak has spread well beyond its starting point. Cases have been recorded in 66 health zones, the local administrative areas used for public health work, across eight provinces. In the first days there were three. Health authorities say about 80 percent of new cases are coming from outside the chains of transmission they are monitoring, meaning the links through which the virus passes from person to person.

On treatment, the World Health Organization announced on Friday that the first clinical trial of a Bundibugyo Ebola vaccine had been rolled out. A clinical trial is a formal study in people to test a medical product.

The outbreak also ranks second on the wider record of Ebola. According to Al Jazeera, it is the second-largest and second-deadliest Ebola outbreak on record, behind the 2014-2016 epidemic in West Africa. That epidemic infected 28,600 people and killed more than 11,000 within two years.