News Center — Fears are escalating over the further spread of Ebola in Africa, with health warnings about the potential for the virus to spread beyond current outbreak areas, amid calls to strengthen surveillance and response systems.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo announced today, Friday, July 10, that the Ebola infection toll in the country has risen to 1,792, with deaths reaching 625.

The World Health Organization had earlier stated that the Ebola outbreaks in both the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda constitute a public health emergency requiring close international monitoring, explaining that the virus's spread poses a risk to other countries in the region, and that its assessment of the regional threat level indicates it is high.

The organization affirmed that the nature of the current outbreak and the potential expansion of infections necessitate the strengthening of surveillance and response measures in neighboring countries.

On June 5, the World Health Organization, in collaboration with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, announced the launch of a preparedness and response plan to address the Bundibugyo virus disease outbreak—a strain of the Ebola virus. The plan includes strengthening early detection capacities, providing protective equipment, supporting laboratories, and training health teams in the affected countries.

The WHO toll, based on figures from Congolese health authorities, indicates a mortality rate of 34 percent from the outbreak there.

The Ebola virus has spread in the northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo across four provinces, but is concentrated in Ituri. The outbreak is attributed to a rare strain of the Ebola virus called Bundibugyo, for which there are no approved vaccines or treatments.