Kinshasa: The death toll in the deadly Ebola virus outbreak in the Democratic Republic (DR) of Congo rose to a whopping 370, since the disease ravaged the Central African nation in July last year, the country’s health ministry said on Monday. Out of 685 cases of reported hemorrhagic fever, 636 were confirmed to be Ebola virus cases, the ministry said. Furthermore, about 245 people have recovered from the deadly virus in DR Congo, Anadolu News Agency reported.
As part of a campaign to cull Ebola, a total of 63,061 people were given vaccinations in the Central African nation, the health ministry further said. This is the world’s second deadliest Ebola outbreak since the virus killed 11,000 people in West Africa in 2014. Ebola, one of the world’s deadliest diseases, first appeared in Sudan, followed by DR Congo in 1976. The virus can be transmitted to humans from wild animals. Symptoms of the disease include fever, severe headache and hemorrhaging.
In 2014, Ebola caused global concerns when an outbreak broke out in the Western African countries of Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone, claiming the lives of over 11,000 people and infecting approximately 28,600 others.
