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KINSHASA – The deadly outbreak of Ebola ravaging eastern DRC for nearly four months has left 19 people dead in just five days, the health ministry said.
The outbreak, which began on August 1, has already killed 241 people, the ministry said Tuesday in a statement.
"There were 241 deaths," the ministry said in updated information as of November 26, indicating that there had been a total of 421 cases – 374 confirmed and 47 probable.
Another 74 suspected cases are under investigation.
READ: The current Ebola outbreak is the worst in the history of Congo: Ministry
The epidemic is the tenth largest in DR Congo since the discovery of the Ebola virus in 1976.
The crisis is centered around the bustling city of Beni, in eastern North Kivu, in a region ravaged by armed conflict that has slowed efforts to stem the epidemic.
Ebola is a serious infectious disease that can spread rapidly through small amounts of body fluids, leading to internal bleeding and potentially death.
DR Congo is running a mbadive election campaign on Dec. 23 to choose a successor to President Joseph Kabila, who has headed the vast Central African country since 2001.
Since independence from Belgium in 1960, this poverty-stricken nation has never experienced a peaceful transition of power.
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