Ebola outbreak spreads to new province in DR Congo

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo spread to a sixth province as the overall death toll surpassed 2,100 and cases topped 4,500.

Experts say the virus may have been transmitted undetected for months, while health workers have struggled to contain the outbreak with poor medical supplies and no approved vaccine for the new strain — though several are in the works.

The head of the World Health Organization this week warned that the current outbreak threatens to be the biggest ever, with authorities playing catch-up to the disease after “a big head start.” During the previous deadliest outbreak, which killed 11,000 people between 2014 and 2016, authorities had recorded 755 cases at the same point.