WHO raises alarm over undetected Ebola cases in DR Congo

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo continues to worsen with the number of cases surging past 9,000 with more than 4,300 deaths. Health authorities are struggling to contain the epidemic, which is now spread across seven provinces. And what's alarming health workers is many of the deaths are occurring outside treatment centers. Of the total number of cases, about 60% are community deaths. Now over the past few weeks, about one-third of all new cases have still been community deaths. So that means we're not detecting cases while the patients are still alive. With so many cases going undetected in communities, the WHO says it's now turning its focus to areas that are either remote or in health zones that are difficult to access. It's very difficult to be everywhere all the time. The strategy now is really to reach out to the communities that are the hardest hit and bring our response to them. It is in those communities that people are sick, people are dying. That is where we need to reach out to them to set up services and the response. The overall case fatality rate for the rare Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus is close to 50%. Clinical trials for a vaccine are underway.