Congo's fast-moving Ebola outbreak started month before it was declared, WHO says

Earlier cases of the disease were wrongly attributed to malaria and typhoid, WHO said. The fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record started in February, months before it was officially declared in mid-May, said the World Health Organization (WHO) as responders in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) battle the surge in cases. Mohamed Janabi, the WHO’s regional director for Africa, told a news conference on Monday that sequencing indicated the outbreak’s start, with some cases early on wrongly attributed to malaria and typhoid. “So we are chasing the virus, the virus is ahead of us,” Janabi said. Confirmed cases of Ebola in the DRC have reached 4,200, including at least 1,900 deaths , according to latest government figures. The Ebola outbreak declared on May 15 is unlike most previous ones because the rare Bundibugyo virus has no approved vaccines or treatments.

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