The Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo is now killing a victim every 30 minutes, a top UN humanitarian official says, calling for greater international action.
“The outbreak is the fastest growing on record,” Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, says in a statement. “We need speed, scale and solidarity before this virus gets even further ahead of us.”
The outbreak has killed at least 2,128 people out of more than 4,500 confirmed cases since being declared in the DRC on May 15 and the UN has already said it is on course to become the deadliest Ebola eruption ever.
“Ebola is winning in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We cannot let the virus outrun our response,” Fletcher said as he outlined the latest efforts to contain the virus, which spreads through contact with bodily fluids and causes a hemorrhagic fever.
“The epidemic is killing someone every 30 minutes,” says Fletcher, who warned that “many more people are at risk.”
Fletcher says countries had now donated nearly $300 million to a fund to combat the outbreak.
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