The Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo has reached a new milestone, with the number of cases reported Wednesday by the country’s Ministry of Health now more than 900.

The new total of 907 Ebola cases includes 841 confirmed cases and 66 probable. Another 223 suspected cases are under investigation in what is now the second-largest Ebola outbreak in global history, after the 2014 West African outbreak. The death toll stands at 569.

There are confirmed cases in 19 communities in the eastern provinces of North Kivu and Ituri, near the borders with South Sudan and Uganda. They include what are now 249 confirmed cases, 192 of them fatal, in Katwa, with 11 more under investigation. Katwa remains a hotspot with the most fatalities.

The Ministry of Health reported new fatalities in Masereka, where a man with a confirmed Ebola diagnosis and his wife died this week.

There are 72 health workers infected with Ebola to date, among them 24 fatalities, according to the most recent update from WHO.

The city of Goma near the Rwandan border remains under surveillance with four suspected cases but none confirmed. Health officials ramped up preparation efforts ahead of any Ebola cases in Goma because it is a travel and trade hub that opens the door to a more worrisome regional and international spread.

Rwanda and now Burundi are next to begin health worker vaccinations, following South Sudan and Uganda.

More than 85,800 people have received the approved rVSV-ZEBOV experimental vaccine, with more than 20,700 of them in Beni and nearly 22,000 in Katwa.

Image: WHO Africa file