As the death toll from the latest Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) surpasses 2,000 people, infectious disease experts say Americans should remain aware of the humanitarian crisis overseas while understanding the reality of domestic risk.The virus has spread rapidly across parts of eastern and northeastern DRC, with earlier cross-border cases in Uganda.Published government data shows a total of 4,381 confirmed cases."There's a lot of people who live there.
So this is not breaking out in a town of 50, but in rural cities of hundreds of thousands," David Wohl, MD, a professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, told Fox News Digital.FAUCI TEXTS SUGGEST OFFICIALS WERE ‘TOO SLOW TO PIVOT' AMID PANDEMIC, SAYS DR MARC SIEGEL"Compared to previous outbreaks, the pace at which this is moving is unprecedented," he went on."The slope is just so catastrophic, with more and more people getting infected at a very significant pace without much slowing down."A healthcare worker prepares a patient's blood sample for testing at Bunia General Hospital in Bunia, Congo, on June 11, 2026.
(Moses Sawasawa/AP Photo)Controlling transmission has proven particularly difficult in the DRC due to what Wohl calls a "perfect storm" of adverse conditions.MEASLES SURGE HITS NEW MILESTONE AS US CASES SURPASS LAST YEAR'S TOTALDense populations and limited access can complicate efforts to deliver medical care, track contacts and establish quarantine protocols, he noted."There's conflict in and around these areas, which makes getting in and out of them … really tough," Wohl said.Despite the escalating death toll in Africa, health officials emphasize that the average American faces very little threat from Ebola.The current outbreak involves the Bundibugyo ebolavirus strain, which is genetically distinct from the 2014 Zaire strain and renders standard past treatments and vaccines less effective, the doctor said...