Ebola outbreak in DRC spreading at fastest rate since it began

The Ebola epidemic, which recently surpassed 1,000 deaths, is spiraling "out of control," in a conflict-riven region of the Democratic Republic of Congo, The Guardian reports.

New cases of the disease are spreading at the fastest rate since the outbreak began last year and The Guardian reports the situation could become as serious as the outbreak between 2013 and 2016.

"The situation is far more dangerous than the statistic of 1,000 deaths, itself the second largest in history, suggests and the suspension of key services threatens to create a lethal inflection point in the trajectory of the disease," David Miliband, the head of the International Rescue Committee told The Guardian.

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One of the challenges in preventing the spread is that efforts to do so have mainly come from the higher levels of government without effective communication to affected communities. Bringing in armed police and canceling local elections have reportedly left citizens of the DRC suspicious, as opposed to preparing them for safety. Whitney Elmer, a country director for Mercy Corps, told The Guardian that local community members and organizations need to be included in the decision-making.

"But what we see right now is that the majority of confirmed cases are coming through community deaths," Elmer said. "It's a very worrying sign. It means communities are not aware or not active participants in the response. People die in their communities and they have the ability to transmit the virus to as many people as possible." Read more at The Guardian.