Ebola outbreak death toll passes 5,300, with most fatalities in DR Congo

The latest Ebola outbreak in Africa has killed 5,376 people, according to figures released on Monday by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. The Democratic Republic of the Congo accounts for nearly all of the reported deaths, with fatalities also recorded in Kenya and Uganda.

The DRC, which declared the outbreak in mid-May, remains its epicentre. This is the country's 17th Ebola outbreak and its largest. Africa CDC's breakdown puts the death toll in the DRC at 5,372, while Kenya and Uganda have each reported two deaths. Together, those figures bring the toll across the three countries to more than 5,300.

The Bundibugyo strain is responsible for the current outbreak. Some 10,444 people have been infected across the DRC, Uganda and Kenya, with a reported death rate exceeding 50 percent. The virus has crossed national borders on several occasions in recent months, with cases also reported outside those three countries.

In neighbouring Uganda, authorities recorded 20 cases before the country was declared Ebola-free in August. Almost all of those infections involved people who had travelled from the DRC. Uganda's two reported deaths remain part of the overall toll published by Africa CDC on Monday.

Kenya reported nine infections and two deaths in October. Those infections were the first recorded Ebola cases in the country. The Kenyan cases followed the earlier infections in Uganda, where travel from the DRC was associated with almost every reported case.

Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, reported its first imported case in more than a decade in October and has recorded no deaths. Separately, health authorities said samples from two suspected cases in the country's northeast tested negative in two rounds of testing. Those suspected infections were therefore not confirmed by the tests.

Beyond Africa, France reported one case in July involving a health worker who had returned from the DRC. That case was among the instances in which the virus was reported across borders during the outbreak.

There are currently no approved treatments or vaccines for the rare Bundibugyo strain. Clinical trials using the Ervebo vaccine have begun in recent weeks. The vaccine has demonstrated effectiveness against the more common Zaire strain, but the trials come as the current outbreak is being driven by Bundibugyo.