Congo's Ebola cases surpass 11,000, government data show

The number of confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo has surpassed 11,000, according to government data.

Ebola infections totalled 11,042, with a death toll of 5,387 people, data showed on Tuesday. 

The outbreak, caused by the rare Bundibugyo species of the Ebola virus, was declared in mid-May, with no approved treatments or vaccines for this species. 

Ebola is the second-largest and deadliest outbreak on record behind only the 2014-2016 West African outbreak, which infected more than 28,600 people and killed more than 11,000.

Eight of Congo's 26 provinces have been affected, and many deaths have occurred outside treatment centres.

Delayed detection, conflict, and strained health services have led to a more rapid spread of the virus than in previous outbreaks.

The disease has now been reported in East, Central and West Africa, giving it the widest geographic spread of any Ebola outbreak on the continent to date.