The number of confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo has risen above 10,000, government data showed on Tuesday, a milestone that coincides with growing fears the epidemic could spread to more African countries, Reuters reported. The latest situation report from Congo's public health institute put the number of cases at 10,060, with those killed by the virus reaching 4,887.

Source: Reuters, reporting Congo public health institute data

The outbreak, caused by the rare Bundibugyo species of Ebola, was announced in mid-May and has since become the largest and deadliest in Congo, surpassing a 2018-2020 epidemic, Reuters reported. It is now the second-largest and second-deadliest on record behind only the 2014-2016 West African Ebola outbreak, which infected over 28,600 people and killed more than 11,000, mainly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

10,060Confirmed Ebola cases in Congo in the public health institute's latest situation report
4,887People killed by the virus in Congo, according to the same report
66Health zones across eight provinces where the outbreak has spread, according to AP reporting

Cases beyond Congo — and most chains untraced

The outbreak has spread across 66 health zones in eight Congolese provinces, with Ituri and North Kivu among the areas most severely affected, according to Associated Press reporting of the same milestone, which said the 10,060 figure was independently reported by Reuters and AP. The World Health Organization previously reported 9,704 confirmed infections and 4,687 deaths as of October 20. AP reported that approximately 80% of recorded cases are being identified outside previously monitored contact groups, indicating that many chains of infection have not been traced, and that health workers face armed conflict, damaged roads, limited medical resources and community mistrust.

Source: Associated Press via Universal Adage, reporting the 10,060 milestone

Earlier this month, Kenya reported its first case and went on to announce nine cases in total, after a man who had travelled from Congo via Uganda died in Nairobi, Reuters reported. Last week, Nigeria became the fourth African country to report an Ebola case. Health officials have been seeking to work out how and where that patient — the wife of a Swiss diplomat, who had not travelled to Congo — contracted the disease; the Swiss government said she was believed to have contracted it in Uganda, and she and her husband were flown to hospitals in Switzerland on Monday.

Uganda reported 20 cases in May and June, mostly imported from Congo, but the World Health Organization declared the country Ebola-free in August, and Ugandan officials say the country does not have any Ebola cases now, Reuters reported. Uganda's health minister said on Sunday that Ugandan citizens returning to the country with a history of travel to Congo would be quarantined for 21 days.