What is now the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak in history is swamping eastern Congo with the latest fatality numbers racing past 1,500 according to official data released Thursday.
A 50 percent spike in around a week is driving the surge that indicates the outbreak continues to show it is resistant to any and all efforts at restraint, AP reports.
As of Tuesday, 3,442 cases have been recorded in the latest outbreak, and 1,521 people have died in a medical emergency the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) defined as a global health emergency back in May, as Breitbart News reported.
The strain called the Bundibugyo virus responsible for it has no approved vaccines or treatments, with devastating results as AP makes clear:
It has also killed more people at a quicker rate than any previous outbreak, including the 2014-2016 outbreak that was considered the worst on record with over 11,000 deaths out of at least 28,000 cases.
That outbreak took about eight months to reach 1,000 deaths.
Ebola was first discovered in 1976 in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo and is thought to have spread from bats.
It is rare but highly contagious and can be contracted via bodily fluids such as vomit, blood or semen.
Early symptoms include fever, muscle pain, fatigue, headache and sore throat, and are followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, a rash and bleeding.
An Ebola vaccine based on the same technology that delivered the AstraZeneca Covid-19 jab is being urgently developed by British scientists to help contain the deadly sub-strain, as Breitbart News reported.