The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has claimed more than 1,500 lives as the virus continues to spread faster than response efforts can manage. According to a government update on Thursday, the DRC has recorded 3,442 cases and 1,521 deaths, marking a 50 percent increase in fatalities over the past week.

The outbreak is concentrated in the eastern regions of the country, where decades of conflict with rebel groups have weakened government control and infrastructure, complicating containment efforts. There remains no vaccine available for the Bundibugyo strain of the virus, which is driving the current epidemic.

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) noted that the recent sharp rise in reported cases and deaths partly reflects a backlog of unconfirmed or unrecorded incidents. Africa CDC Director-General Dr Jean Kaseya reported that 63 percent of confirmed deaths in the last two weeks occurred outside treatment centres.

In Ituri’s Nyakunde health zone, international partners aiding the Ebola response were forced to temporarily relocate following a July 15 attack on a hospital and treatment centre, triggered by a patient's death.

Despite the escalating death toll, the World Health Organization has assessed the risk of a global spread as low, citing that Ebola does not transmit through the air, which limits its contagion compared to respiratory viruses.

Sources