The Democratic Republic of the Congo's Health Ministry announced on Saturday that the Ebola death toll had risen to 4,242 from 8,787 confirmed cases as of 7th October, representing a case fatality rate of 48.3 percent.

Jean Kaseya, Director-General of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), had earlier warned that the continuing outbreak posed a threat to neighbouring countries.

In August, the United Nations warned of insufficient resources to contain the outbreak, while a study published in Nature Medicine identified a previously unknown strain of the Bundibugyo Ebola virus, believed to have spread to humans from an animal.