Updated

UN responders said on Friday, November 13, that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo continues to spread amid deadly attacks by armed groups that are obstructing efforts to stop transmission. UN Senior Ebola Response Coordinator Julien Harneis said more people are being killed by Allied Democratic Forces fighters than by Ebola in recent days, with attacks on tens of villages in southern Ituri and North Kivu going unnoticed. WHO's Chikwe Ihekweazu said about 400 to 500 new infections are still being identified weekly, linked to cases in rural and hard-to-reach areas, while a significant reduction in transmission has been seen in former hotspots including Bunia, Mongbwalu, Rampara and Nizi in Ituri. WHO condemned an attack in Cantine-Aloya in North Kivu that killed 66 civilians, including three health workers, and the killing of a nurse in Tshopo province two weeks earlier. The outbreak, declared in May, is the country's largest yet, with more than 11,000 cases confirmed and more than 5,000 deaths. The UN World Food Programme warned that nearly 29 million people in the DRC face acute food insecurity, a number likely to rise, with Ebola compounding the hunger crisis.