The actual number of Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) may be up to four times higher than official figures, which show approximately 2,000 infections and more than 700 deaths. This was announced by Chikwe Ihekweazu, Executive Director of the Health Emergencies Program of the World Health Organization (WHO).
"Based on the results of our mathematical models, we believe that the scale of the outbreak is at least two to four times larger than the number of cases we have detected.
"Our ability to detect cases is growing and improving every day, so the reliability of these numbers is getting bigger every day," he said at a briefing in Geneva.
The WHO expert explained that about 80% of new cases are detected outside of contact with infected persons, which means that they occur through unknown transmission chains. Moreover, many patients die at home without reaching a medical facility.
