As the spread of Ebola continues in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the cumulative number of confirmed cases has surpassed 4,000.

Health authorities are on high alert over the possibility that the Ebola virus, currently spreading across five northeastern provinces, could reach the vicinity of the capital, Kinshasa.

According to the DRC Ministry of Information and Communication on the 7th local time, as of the 5th, the cumulative number of confirmed Ebola cases in the DRC stood at 4,053, an increase of 80 from the previous day.

Among them, the death toll reached 1,850, recording a case fatality rate of 45.7%.

Currently, 694 people are receiving treatment in isolation or hospital admission, and 793 have fully recovered.

In terms of the number of confirmed cases, the current outbreak already surpassed the 2018–2020 outbreak (3,481 cases and 2,299 deaths), which was previously the largest within the DRC, at the end of last month.

Compared to all Ebola outbreaks globally, it is the second-largest scale following the 2014–2016 West Africa outbreak, which resulted in more than 28,000 confirmed cases and 11,000 deaths.

While the DRC government emphasizes that the situation remains geographically stable, noting that the outbreaks are limited to five northeastern provinces including Ituri province, the epicenter, tension has escalated recently after a suspected Ebola patient was found on a vessel heading toward the capital, Kinshasa.

According to the Ministry of Health, a 32-year-old man aboard a vessel that departed from Mongala province in the northwest some 20 days prior and sailed along the Congo River toward Kinshasa showed symptoms of fever and diarrhea, disembarked at Pimu in Mongala province, and died at a hospital last month, Reuters reported.

The vessel sailed an additional 1,700 kilometers before being stopped by health authorities in Maluku, located 65 kilometers from Kinshasa, and all 300 passengers were screened for signs such as fever.

Health authorities stated that seven people showing suspected symptoms such as fever and headaches were tested for Ebola, but all results came back negative.

However, authorities have ordered intensified Ebola surveillance on all vessels arriving in Kinshasa.

Meanwhile, prolonged unpaid wages for medical staff on the front lines of the Ebola response have been disrupting quarantine and prevention activities.

In Ituri province and other areas, some front-line medical workers, including doctors and nurses, staged strikes after claiming they had not received wages and bonuses since the declaration of the Ebola outbreak in May.

World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, during a recent visit to the DRC, urged that support and protection for front-line response personnel must be strengthened.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)