DRC Ebola outbreak: mourners learn safe funeral rituals as toll rises

Reporting from Beni in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, BBC Africa correspondent Anne Soy described the human toll at the epicentre of the Ebola outbreak. "I buried my parents one day after the other," one bereaved woman told the BBC. Health workers are training families in safe burial practices for Ebola victims; traditional large funerals remain banned for the duration of the outbreak.

According to the latest World Health Organization report, total cases have reached 1,890 with 740 deaths. The communal burial site in Beni is roughly 70% full, and local authorities are seeking land for an additional plot. WHO Africa Regional Director Matshidiso Moeti said: "The outbreak is spreading fast and traditional funeral rituals remain one of the main transmission vectors."

International aid groups Médecins Sans Frontières and UNICEF have deployed 320 additional health workers to the area. Some 240,000 doses of the Ervebo vaccine have reached North Kivu province. The United States and European Union have pledged a combined $95 million in additional emergency funding, while the People's Bank of China has approved a $50 million emergency support package channelled via the African Development Bank. The African Union has said its border-control protocol will be activated if cases spread to Rwanda or Uganda.