Drcongo Ebola Death Toll Climbs To 2,150: African Union

The death toll from the ongoing Ebola virus outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has risen to 2,150 as of Oct. 13, according to a new African Union report.

That figure is up from 2,133 earlier this month, the AU-affiliated Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said, reported the Premium Times Nigeria website Monday.

The updated figures show a total of 3,220 Ebola cases recorded in the period, with 29 new cases beyond the 3,191 announced as of Sept. 29.

Separately, a high-level ministerial meeting in Goma, the Democratic Republic of Congo, on the situation Monday saw a draft framework on "cross-border collaboration on Ebola and other diseases," the Africa CDC tweeted.

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

It 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. -