DRC Ebola death toll rises to 139 as confirmed cases reach 689

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo continues to worsen, with confirmed infections rising to 689 and the number of deaths reaching 139, according to the latest situation report released by the country's health authorities on Friday.

Health officials reported 17 new confirmed cases on Thursday, including five deaths, all recorded in the eastern province of Ituri.

The outbreak is linked to the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus and has now spread across 29 health zones in the eastern provinces of Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu.

The latest figures also show that 168 suspected cases had been recorded as of Thursday, including 64 deaths.

Authorities said the response effort is facing a number of challenges that continue to slow containment measures.

These include resistance by some communities to post-mortem swabbing, limited capacity at Ebola treatment centres, shortages of infection prevention and control supplies in North Kivu, weak reporting of alerts across the affected provinces, and a funding shortfall of 21.5 million U.S. dollars.

The outbreak has also affected vulnerable populations living in displacement camps. According to a report released on Thursday by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, two Ebola-related deaths have been reported in a camp for internally displaced people in Ituri.

The DRC Ministry of Health officially declared the current outbreak on May 15. It is the country's 17th Ebola outbreak since the virus was first identified in 1976.

Health authorities continue to monitor the spread of the disease as response teams work to strengthen surveillance, treatment and prevention measures in the affected areas despite operational and financial constraints.