Ebola fatality rate tops 50% after hundreds of deaths added to Congo toll

• Congo’s Ebola outbreak has passed a 50% death rate, with 10,414 confirmed infections and 5,372 deaths, the National Institute of Public Health said on Oct 31.
• Health officials added 314 earlier deaths in Ituri after reviewing records in 97% of affected zones, which pushed the fatality ratio from 48.6% to 51.6%.
• The outbreak has spread to eight provinces and 67 health zones, and the US will tighten travel rules from Nov 3 for people who have been in Congo.

KINSHASA – The death rate among confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo has climbed above 50% after health authorities added hundreds of previously unallocated fatalities to the official toll.

The outbreak has caused 10,414 confirmed infections and 5,372 deaths, giving it a reported case-fatality ratio of 51.6%, the National Institute of Public Health said in its most recent report released on Oct 31.

A review of records across 97% of affected health zones in Ituri, the epidemic’s epicentre, resulted in 314 earlier Ebola deaths being added to the province’s cumulative toll, health officials said.

The adjustment pushed the reported fatality ratio up from 48.6% two days earlier, even as the number of confirmed infections rose by just 140.

The revision comes as health authorities continue to report dozens of new infections a day from an epidemic that has spread to eight provinces and 67 health zones.

It is the largest Ebola outbreak in Congo’s history and the largest globally after the 2013-2016 epidemic in West Africa.

The outbreak has also spilled beyond the country, though transmission elsewhere remains limited.

Nigeria said on Oct 31 that two suspected cases in Adamawa state tested negative after two rounds of testing, leaving the country with one confirmed infection.

The US said on Nov 1 it will further tighten travel restrictions in response to the outbreak.

Beginning late on Nov 3, anyone boarding an international flight to the US must attest that they haven’t been in the Democratic Republic of Congo during the previous 21 days, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Travellers who have been in the country during that period generally won’t be allowed to board US-bound commercial flights. BLOOMBERG