The outbreak has spread to 65 health zones across seven provinces, opening new hot spots even as the ministry works to contain earlier ones. Officials say the confirmed count represents only about a third of total infections, with many cases going undetected. The strain responsible is Bundibugyo, for which no approved vaccine or treatment exists.

The outbreak was declared in May and has already surpassed Congo's 16 previous Ebola outbreaks in scale, making it the largest and deadliest in the country's history, ahead of the 2018-2020 epidemic. It is on pace to exceed the 11,000 deaths recorded in the 2014-2016 West African outbreak that struck Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The World Health Organization ranks the current outbreak second only to that 2014-2016 epidemic, which it says infected more than 28,600 people, among all Ebola outbreaks recorded globally.

Containment efforts have been hampered by fighting between government forces and rebel groups, widespread disregard for health precautions, heavy population movement, and shortages of medical supplies and treatment centers. A large share of recorded deaths have occurred outside treatment centers rather than under medical care.

The outbreak has crossed borders twice. Uganda reported 20 cases and two deaths earlier in the year tied to the outbreak before being declared Ebola-free in August. Last week, Kenya became the second country to report an imported case: a Kenyan national who had traveled from Congo via Uganda died in Nairobi.

Samuel Buju, a resident of Bunia, said the government is overwhelmed and needs to fully shoulder its responsibilities to make the response against Ebola effective.