The death toll from the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has surpassed 3,000, according to the latest figures released by the Congolese government, highlighting the rapidly expanding scale of the country’s deadliest Ebola epidemic on record.

As of Aug. 31, the DRC had recorded 6,186 confirmed Ebola cases and 3,007 deaths, according to a government situation report. The figures put the outbreak’s case fatality rate at 48.6 percent.

The report said 1,409 patients have recovered, while another 830 people remain in isolation or are receiving treatment at Ebola treatment centers.

The outbreak has spread across 60 health zones in six provinces, including Ituri, North Kivu, Haut-Uele, Tshopo, South Kivu and Bas-Uele, placing significant pressure on local health systems and increasing concerns over further transmission.

The current outbreak was officially declared in May and has continued to expand despite containment and treatment efforts. Authorities and health organizations have been working to identify cases, isolate patients, trace contacts and strengthen medical responses in affected communities.

With more than 3,000 deaths already recorded, the epidemic has become the largest and deadliest Ebola outbreak ever recorded in the DRC, according to the figures cited in the report.

It is also now the second-largest Ebola epidemic recorded globally, surpassed only by the devastating 2014–2016 West Africa outbreak, which affected Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone and resulted in more than 11,000 deaths.

The latest figures underscore the continuing public health threat posed by Ebola in the DRC, where the outbreak’s spread across multiple provinces has made containment increasingly challenging. (ILKHA)