The death toll from the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has risen to 4,018, with 8,300 confirmed cases recorded across seven provinces.

The figures were contained in data released by the Congolese government on Friday as health authorities intensify efforts to contain the outbreak.

The outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo species of Ebola, is the largest and deadliest recorded in the DRC, surpassing the 2018–2020 outbreaks.

More than 2,000 patients have recovered from the disease, according to the government figures.

The outbreak is currently the second deadliest Ebola epidemic on record, after the 2014-2016 West African outbreak, which recorded more than 28,600 infections and over 11,000 deaths in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

The Congolese government and the United Nations said last month that transmission had begun to slow in some parts of Ituri Province, where the outbreak started.

However, the latest government data showed that the virus was still spreading rapidly in eastern DRC, including neighbouring North Kivu Province.

South Ubangi Province in north-western DRC became the seventh province affected last month after a man who had travelled from eastern DRC died from the virus.

The rising figures underscore the difficulties facing health authorities as they work to contain the outbreak across the affected provinces.

(Reuters/NAN)