Ebola cases in the Congo surpass 2,000

Just two months shy of its first anniversary, the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is still raging.

Total cases since the epidemic began in Aug. 2018 surpassed 2,000 this week, reports Axios. A World Health Organization official says the outbreak could take up to two years to contain in a "worst-case scenario," per CNN.

More than 1,900 cases have been confirmed and 94 cases deemed probable. 1,367 people are confirmed dead due to the disease, reports Axios. Ebola typically kills around half of those who become infected, but this outbreak has a fatality rate of 70 percent, reports CNN.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up

Both the WHO and other aid groups are contributing resources in attempts to contain the crisis, but another problem remains in community members not trusting health staffers and aid groups to diagnose and treat them. Distrust in these groups prevents many people from coming in after showing symptoms.

This is the world's second-largest outbreak on record, after 28,000 cases and 11,000 deaths ravaged West Africa from 2014-16.