More than 1,500 people have died from Ebola in the latest outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), as health authorities battle one of the fastest-growing epidemics on record. Official figures showed the fatality rate stood at 44 per cent, indicating that nearly half of all confirmed Ebola cases recorded during the outbreak had resulted in death. Carl Skau, Deputy Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), described the outbreak as the fastest-growing Ebola epidemic recorded to date. “This is the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak of all time. The deadliest Ebola outbreak on record occurred in West Africa between 2014 and 2015, claiming more than 11,000 lives across several countries in the region.