On August 27, local time, UN Secretary General Guterres spoke to the media in New York about the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He said that the current outbreak is the fastest growing Ebola outbreak on record and the largest Ebola outbreak in the history of the Congo. Guterres called on the international community to increase its support to contain the spread of the epidemic as soon as possible. Guterres said that as of August 24, the Congo had confirmed 5,656 cases of Ebola, with 2,715 deaths. Currently, about 500 new cases are being added every week. The outbreak is still spreading widely, and women and children are particularly affected. The epidemic is spreading in a highly vulnerable environment, he said. In Ituri province alone, the conflict over the past 30 years has displaced 1 million people and severely curtailed local access to food, health care and other basic services. Across the region, there are currently over 12 million people in need of humanitarian assistance and protection. Local health systems are overburdened, infrastructure is weak, and some communities are still difficult to reach.

On August 27, local time, UN Secretary General Guterres spoke to the media in New York about the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He said that the current outbreak is the fastest growing Ebola outbreak on record and the largest Ebola outbreak in the history of the Congo. Guterres called on the international community to increase its support to contain the spread of the epidemic as soon as possible. Guterres said that as of August 24, the Congo had confirmed 5,656 cases of Ebola, with 2,715 deaths. Currently, about 500 new cases are being added every week. The outbreak is still spreading widely, and women and children are particularly affected. The epidemic is spreading in a highly vulnerable environment, he said. In Ituri province alone, the conflict over the past 30 years has displaced 1 million people and severely curtailed local access to food, health care and other basic services. Across the region, there are currently over 12 million people in need of humanitarian assistance and protection. Local health systems are overburdened, infrastructure is weak, and some communities are still difficult to reach.