Ebola cases and death toll in eastern Congo climbing

The number of confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo has increased to 782, with 181 deaths, the health ministry in the central African nation says.

However, the number of cases in Congo is believed to be higher because the outbreak was confirmed on May 15, weeks after it is suspected to have begun, and the contact tracing coverage rate is at 56 per cent, a sharp decrease from last week.

The latest Ebola outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus, which has no approved vaccine or treatment, unlike the "Zaire virus", which was responsible for most of Congo's past 16 outbreaks of the disease.

Fifty-six people have recovered, and the current fatality rate of the outbreak is 23 per cent, the health ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

The outbreak is concentrated in Congo's eastern province of Ituri, which accounts for more than 90 per cent of the cases. Cases have also been recorded in the North Kivu and South Kivu provinces, and have spread across the border to Uganda.

Nearly a million people have been displaced by conflict in Ituri, according to the UN humanitarian office, making contact tracing difficult as people flee attacks or move frequently in the vast province with dense forests, poor roads and remote villages that can take days to reach.

Tracing is also difficult among the thousands of artisanal miners who regularly move between remote sites in the mineral-rich region.

Attacks on health workers from angry residents, scepticism among some locals, and armed conflict in hot spots continue to challenge efforts to stop the outbreak.

In May US officials said Washington intends to send Americans exposed to Ebola while abroad to a new facility in Kenya rather than flying them back home.

They said the centre would be located at Laikipia Air Base with a capacity of 50 quarantine beds.

The move led to protests over the plans to build an Ebola quarantine centre, which was later halted by the courts.