Why are experts warning latest Ebola outbreak could be ‘worst ever’?

The deadly Ebola virus outbreak in eastern Africa could be the “worst ever” in history, the director-general of Africa’s Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Jean Kaseya, has warned .

Kaseya sounded the alarm on Tuesday during a virtual meeting of African heads of state and international donors in Burundi.

At least 837 people have been infected in the epicentre of the outbreak, the Democratic Republic of Congo, while 196 people have died, authorities say. In neighbouring Uganda, 19 cases and two deaths have been reported.

“If we don’t stop the outbreak very soon, it will be worse than what we had in West Africa and eastern DRC,” Kaseya said, referring to previous outbreaks of the virus in West Africa in 2014, which resulted in the deaths of more than 11,000 people, and a later one in the DRC in 2018 that led to the deaths of more than 2,000.

Here’s what we know about why health officials fear this outbreak could be even worse:

Ebola disease is a viral haemorrhagic fever that can result in death. It is spread through bodily fluids, and victims remain highly infectious after death.

Three known forms of the virus cause large outbreaks of the disease: Zaire virus, Sudan virus and the Bundibugyo virus, which has caused the current outbreak.

The Zaire strain caused previous outbreaks in the DRC and in West Africa.