The Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) is facing an escalating Ebola outbreak, with health authorities reporting over 2,000 confirmed cases and 754 deaths as of Wednesday. The World Health Organization (WHO) has cautioned that the actual scale of the outbreak may be two to four times higher than official numbers indicate.

The epidemic has now spread to five provinces across the central African nation, raising concerns over its rapid expansion. This outbreak involves the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus, for which no approved vaccine or treatment currently exists. However, the WHO announced that the first clinical trial for an antiviral drug targeting this strain began on Tuesday.

The medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) expressed alarm over the outbreak’s unprecedented pace and its spread into previously unaffected areas. In a statement issued in French on Wednesday, MSF noted that confirmed cases have tripled in fewer than five weeks, while deaths have increased more than fivefold. The group also highlighted that the current outbreak has already surpassed half the number of cases reported during the 2018-2020 Ebola epidemic in DR Congo, which spanned nearly two years.

Authorities and aid organizations continue to call for an urgent intensification of responses to contain the epidemic and provide care to affected populations amid challenging conditions on the ground.