The death toll from the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has surpassed 5,000, government data showed on Friday, as authorities had yet to find a way to control the country's deadliest Ebola epidemic on record, Reuters reported. The virus has infected more than 10,000 people since the outbreak was declared in May.

Source: Reuters

Al Jazeera, reporting the same government figures, said the latest death toll was announced on Friday and that there are no approved treatments or vaccines to combat the rare Bundibugyo species behind the outbreak. Eight of Congo's 26 provinces have been affected, with many deaths occurring outside treatment centres, Reuters said.

Source: Al Jazeera via Jamaica Inquirer

This is a new milestone in an outbreak this site has tracked step by step — cases passed 10,000 earlier this week and the last full count reported here put deaths at 4,887. The World Health Organization said this week that sustained efforts are essential to end the outbreak, noting more than 2,600 people have recovered while testing and treatment capacity has expanded, in a UN News report on the outbreak.

Source: UN News / WHO

Second-largest Ebola outbreak ever

This year's outbreak is the world's second-largest ever, behind only the 2014-2016 epidemic that infected more than 28,600 people and killed more than 11,000 across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, Reuters reported. It is Congo's 17th Ebola outbreak and its largest, and it began in the country's east amid conflict, hunger and widespread displacement before expanding to eight provinces, including hard-to-access areas, the WHO said.

Spread beyond Congo and travel curbs

The virus has also crossed borders. Nigeria became the fourth African country to record an Ebola case last week, the reports said, while Kenya has recorded cases including two deaths and Uganda has also reported infections. Some governments have been restricting travel to affected countries or quarantining travellers: on Friday Saudi Arabia suspended travel to and entry from Kenya, according to the Saudi Press Agency, after suspending travel to and entry from Congo, Uganda and South Sudan in June.

Source: Reuters / Al Jazeera

Why it matters beyond Central Africa: an uncontrolled outbreak of a strain with no approved vaccine or treatment keeps raising the risk of wider regional spread, and every new travel curb disrupts trade, work and family movement across East and Central Africa. What happens next depends on whether testing, treatment centres and the vaccine trials now under way can slow a toll that is still rising by hundreds of deaths at a time.