WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The Ebola outbreak in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) - the fastest-growing on record and on track to become the deadliest - is killing one person every 30 minutes, according to the UN.
'Ebola is winning in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,' UN humanitarian affairs chief Tom Fletcher said. 'We cannot let the virus outrun our response.'
Alongside the startling current fatality rate, Fletcher announced that he has allocated an additional $30.5 million from the UN's Central Emergency Response Fund building on the $24 million previously allocated to the DRC and its neighbors to tackle the outbreak.
The UN's humanitarian office recently deployed a further 20 staff to the epicentre of the outbreak, but Fletcher said more may be needed to slow the spread.
Declared on May 15 by national authorities in the DRC, the Ebola Bundibugyo outbreak has now claimed the lives of 2,184 people - nearly 47 per cent of those who have been infected.
Six of the DRC's 26 provinces have recorded Ebola cases, and Uganda has reported 20 cases.
'This is a wake-up call,' Fletcher said.' We need speed, scale and solidarity before this virus gets even further ahead of us.'
Civilians in the North Kivu and South Kivu provinces are simultaneously dealing with Ebola and the ongoing conflict between the Congolese military and Rwanda-backed M23 militia.
Ituri province remains the heart of the outbreak; of the more than 4,660 cases total, Ituri has recorded more than 3,400.
Across eastern DRC, 2.6 million people are seriously malnourished, with more than half located in Ituri, the UN's humanitarian office said in a press release.
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