Death toll in DR Congo from Ebola rises to 271

By Alaattin Dogru

DAKAR, Senegal

The death toll in the Democratic Republic of Congo from Ebola has risen to 271 since the start of an outbreak in late July, the country's Health Ministry said Tuesday.

Among the 542 cases of reported hemorrhagic fever, 494 were confirmed to be Ebola cases, according to the ministry.

It has also been reported that 192 people have recovered from the virus.

Some 48 people died following hemorrhagic fever, but it couldn't be verified whether they died of Ebola because they were buried without an autopsy.

Meanwhile, 11 out of 44 health workers infected with the virus died.

A total of 48,781 people were administered anti-Ebola vaccines in the country as part of a campaign that began on Aug. 8.

Ebola -- a tropical fever which first appeared in 1976 in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo -- can be transmitted to humans from wild animals.

It can also reportedly spread through contact with the body fluids of infected persons or of those who have succumbed to the virus.

Ebola caused global alarm in 2014 when the world's worst outbreak began in West Africa, killing more than 11,300 people and infecting an estimated 28,600 as it swept through Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.