The Ebola virus outbreak in North Kivu Province in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo has become out of control, the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) international non-governmental organisation (NGO) said in a statement to Africanews.

The news outlet said that North Kivu has reported almost 40% of new Ebola cases in the country. Most new cases are not connected to known chains of transmission at the Ebola treatment centre in Butembo, Stephanie Hoffmann, coordinator, said. Seventy-five per cent of deaths related to Ebola are community deaths, she said, meaning people who don’t go to treatment centres or transit centres.

Another issue is people not recognising they may have been infected and going for treatment because of the fear of Ebola and treatment centres, Hoffmann said. Therefore, the majority of the patients are treated at home, with relatives, which makes them vulnerable to reinfection.

The outbreak started in the vicinity of the city of Butembo, but it has now been detected in all of the neighbouring health districts. The organisation is saying it is seeing new outbreaks weekly and has a shortage of capacity to treat patients.

The current Ebola outbreak started in the Ituri Province, and the virus was only confirmed in May. It’s due to the Bundibugyo strain of the virus and, according to Africanews, has already turned into the deadliest outbreak in the history of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The latest reports indicate that there are over 8,600 cases and over 4,100 deaths.