Some 635 Ebola cases have been confirmed and 127 people have died from the dangerous infectious disease in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said on Thursday.

Rising Ebola cases in eastern Congo are intensifying concerns among health officials as the outbreak continues to spread across Africa.

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda could lead to more than 20,000 cases and over 2,000 deaths in a worst-case scenario, according to a CDC report.

A new Ebola outbreak in a remote province in Congo has caused 65 deaths and 246 suspected cases so far, Africa CDC says.

Congo’s Ebola outbreak “had a big head start, and we’re still behind,” World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday, but asserted that “we are catching up” as testing improves.

The DRC has improved testing capacity for Ebola, with two facilities operating in or near the epicenter. But this still may not be enough to keep up with a rapidly expanding disease.

The World Health Organization has declared the Ebola outbreak in Congo and Uganda a public health emergency of international concern, after officials identified more than 250 suspected cases and 80 suspected deaths linked to the disease.

Dozens of motorcycle taxi drivers spread messages about Ebola in an awareness caravan Tuesday in eastern Congo where community skepticism has led to attacks on health

Survivors including health and aid workers recall their experiences and lessons during the 2018-2020 Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo.

In just two weeks the number of confirmed Ebola virus cases has increased more than eightfold, with at least 100 people now dead.