KINSHASA, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- The ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has become the deadliest in the country's history with over 2,300 deaths reported, according to the latest official figures released on Sunday.

A hygiene worker helps a doctor put on personal protective equipment (PPE) before entering the Rwampara Ebola Treatment Centre (ETC) to care for patients with Ebola virus disease in Bunia, Ituri, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo on July 13, 2026. (File photo: AFP)

The DRC has recorded 4,945 confirmed cases, including 2,325 deaths, since the current outbreak began, putting the case fatality rate at 47.0 percent, according to a situation report released Sunday by the country's health authorities.

The latest death toll surpassed that of the 2018-2020 Ebola outbreak in eastern DRC, making the current epidemic the deadliest Ebola outbreak ever recorded in the country.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the 2018-2020 Ebola outbreak in eastern DRC recorded 3,481 cases, including 2,299 deaths.

The current outbreak, the DRC's 17th Ebola outbreak since the virus was first identified in the country in 1976, was officially declared on May 15 and caused by the Bundibugyo species of Ebola virus.

The outbreak has affected 55 health zones across six provinces -- Ituri, North Kivu, Haut-Uele, Tshopo, South Kivu and Bas-Uele.

The WHO has warned that the current Ebola outbreak in the DRC could be the worst on record.

"It's already the second-biggest Ebola epidemic on record, and it's moving faster than any previous Ebola outbreak. At its current pace, it's on track to eclipse the West African Ebola outbreak of 2014 to 2016," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press briefing in Geneva last Wednesday.

The 2014-2016 West Africa epidemic, the largest Ebola outbreak ever recorded, infected more than 28,600 people.