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The number of confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has surpassed 1,800, official data showed Saturday, as the virus spread to a fourth province in the country's northeast.
The total tally reached 1,830, including 648 deaths, since the outbreak was declared on May 15, according to the Health Ministry's situation update.
Some 780 patients are currently under treatment, while 284 people have recovered.
The outbreak had previously been concentrated in the provinces of Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu.
On Friday, however, authorities reported that the disease had spread to Haut-Uele province after seven fatal cases were confirmed in the Wamba health zone.
Haut-Uele Governor Jean Bakomito Gambu officially declared the outbreak in the province after the National Institute for Biomedical Research confirmed the deaths in Wamba. Alerts have also been recorded in the Pawa and Boma Mangbetu health zones and in the provincial capital, Isiro.
The Health Ministry said the response in the three original provinces continues with strengthened national coordination, epidemiological surveillance and community mobilization.
Donors and partners have pledged $910 million to support the Ebola response in Congo and Uganda, where 20 cases have been reported.
On Friday, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it has been strengthening the response in Congo by deploying multidisciplinary expert teams to priority health zones, which account for 83% of cases, as part of a decentralized approach.
Africa CDC Director General Jean Kaseya said the outbreak underscores that every delay in detection and response costs lives, adding that Africa's capacity to contain health threats must be built at the community level, through trusted health workers, surveillance systems and rapid access to financing.
On May 17, two days after the outbreak was declared, the World Health Organization classified the epidemic, caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus, as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
No approved vaccine or specific treatment exists for the Bundibugyo strain, complicating response efforts.
The current outbreak is the 17th recorded in the DRC and began roughly five months after the previous one ended.
It is centered in Ituri province, where cases were first identified around Mongbwalu, before spreading to North Kivu, South Kivu and now Haut-Uele.
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