DRC Ebola toll tops 1,700 as WHO accelerates trials

The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Ebola outbreak has killed 1,707 people and infected 3,802, with most cases in Ituri province. The Bundibugyo strain has no approved vaccines or treatments yet, but the WHO says trials of experimental therapies and vaccines are moving faster than in prior outbreaks. More than 17,000 contacts are being monitored, though the response is hampered by violence, mistrust, and funding gaps; healthcare workers are among those infected. Uganda has declared Ebola-free, and this outbreak is the second-largest and fastest-growing on record.