The number of confirmed Ebola cases in Democratic Republic of Congo has passed 7,000, with the virus spreading to a new province, government ​data showed on Friday.

The outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo ​species of Ebola, became the largest and deadliest in Congo's history ⁠after surpassing the 2018-2020 epidemic.

It is now second only to ​the 2014-2016 West African outbreak, which infected over 28,600 people ​and killed more than 11,000 across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Government figures showed late on Friday that the death toll had risen to 3,398, while ​confirmed cases reached 7,022 across seven provinces.

Officials said earlier an Ebola ​case had been detected in South Ubangi province, located in the northwest ‌of ⁠the country, far from the epicentre of the outbreak.

They said a 23-year-old man who had died on Tuesday tested positive for the Bundibugyo species.

He left South Kivu province in eastern Congo on ​July 10 and ​spent time ⁠abroad before re-entering Congo and arriving in South Ubangi, which borders Congo Republic and Central African ​Republic.

"Contact tracing for the first confirmed case in ​South ⁠Ubangi province is underway," Congo's public health institute said in its latest situation report.

Shortages of trained staff, operational partners and funding are ⁠causing ​a bottleneck in efforts to expand the Ebola ​response as the outbreak spreads geographically, according to the World Health Organization.

Source: Reuters