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The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has recorded 7,022 Ebola cases in its worst outbreak of the disease, Congolese authorities said on Saturday.
The latest figures show that 3,398 people have died while 1,671 have recovered since the outbreak began in mid-May.
However, the government said the spread of the virus may have peaked despite its detection in a seventh province earlier this week.
Government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said the peak was reached in the third week of August.
“The peak was reached at the beginning of the third week of August,” Muyaya wrote on X on Saturday.
“All the indicators show a decrease in the number of cases,” he added.
According to Muyaya, 10 of the 61 health zones affected by the outbreak have recorded no new cases for at least 21 days.
The outbreak began in northeastern Ituri province before spreading to remote and conflict-affected areas in eastern and northern DRC.
Ebola was also confirmed this week in South-Ubangi province, which borders the Central African Republic and Congo-Brazzaville.
Most cases have been recorded in Ituri, where the virus has been detected in schools after students returned from the summer break.
Parents and health workers have expressed concern over the risk of further transmission in schools.
“We are very worried because we don’t know which child comes from which family or what the health status of the members of that family is,” said Angele Magani, a parent in Bunia, the provincial capital.
“We are so scared, even though the school authorities reassure us about the health measures that have been put in place,” she added.
Bunia school official Roger Mungimbo said schools had introduced measures including mandatory handwashing with soap and limiting classrooms to a maximum of 30 pupils.
He added that pupils were regularly reminded not to touch one another and to wash their hands.
Ebola spreads through contact with infected bodily fluids and can cause severe bleeding, organ failure and death.
The current outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain, for which no approved vaccine or treatment exists. Researchers are testing several vaccines and treatments.
Ebola has killed more than 15,000 people in Africa over the past 50 years.
