The Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has become the fastest-growing on record, with the death toll passing 1,700 and new infections continuing to outpace health workers' ability to trace and contain them. The crisis, centred on the town of Bunia in Ituri province, is especially alarming because officials have not yet identified a "patient zero" or established how the outbreak began, making it harder to predict its trajectory or bring it under control.

As of Tuesday, government figures recorded 3,802 confirmed cases and 1,707 deaths, marking roughly a 50% rise in fatalities over a recent period. Africa CDC Director-General Jean Kaseya, visiting Bunia, acknowledged that health authorities cannot yet say when the outbreak will peak, underscoring the scale of the challenge facing responders on the ground.