More than 2,000 Ebola infections have been recorded, including 754 deaths, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, while the World Health Organization warned that the outbreak may be two to four times larger than the official figures.

The epidemic has spread to five provinces in the central African country, according to the latest figures released by the Congolese health authorities on Wednesday.

Bundibugyo strain

There is currently no approved vaccine or treatment for the Bundibugyo strain causing this outbreak, but the first clinical trial of a potential drug began on Tuesday, according to the WHO.

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Doctors Without Borders warned on Wednesday that the disease is spreading to new areas at an unprecedented rate, and called for an urgent escalation of the medical response.

Confirmed cases double

The organization said in a statement, "In less than five weeks, the number of confirmed cases has tripled," while "death cases have more than quintupled." The aid organization added that the current outbreak's toll has already exceeded half the number of cases recorded during the previous Ebola outbreak in the DRC between 2018 and 2020.

Unknown transmission chains

Dr. Chikwe Ikwizu, executive director of WHO's Health Emergencies Programme, said on Tuesday that 80% of new cases were not on the lists of known contacts of infected individuals, and come from "unknown transmission chains." He also expressed concern that many newly recorded cases were of patients who died without ever reaching health facilities. The clinical trial, named "EBO-PEP," is evaluating the efficacy of the antiviral "Remdesivir" in patients confirmed to be infected with the Bundibugyo strain.

Deadly attacks

The experimental drug, developed by the American pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences, has shown promising results in preclinical models against filoviruses, the family of viruses that cause hemorrhagic fever. The outbreak was declared on May 15 after several infections were recorded in the mineral-rich Ituri province (northeast), where armed groups carry out repeated deadly attacks.