GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The fatal Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is spreading rapidly, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned Friday, despite accelerating efforts to tackle the virus.

The WHO said it was still racing to catch up with the worsening situation gripping northeastern DRC.

“The outbreak remains serious” and is “evolving so fast”, said Marie-Roseline Belizaire, the WHO Africa emergencies chief.

“However, I have seen a response that is growing stronger every day,” she told reporters in Geneva, speaking from Bunia, the capital of the DRC’s Ituri province.

The outbreak was declared on May 15, though transmission had been going undetected for some time.

It is caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain of the virus, for which there is no vaccine.

There have been 896 confirmed cases so far in the DRC, including 232 confirmed deaths, with 21 new cases in the last 24 hours, according to the latest WHO update.

More than 90 per cent of known cases in the DRC have been in Ituri, a province racked by conflict.

The outbreak has also spread to North Kivu and South Kivu provinces.

Belizaire said the epidemic was evolving so quickly that the response was racing to keep pace with the virus, which spreads by close contact and infected bodily fluids.

The number of treatment beds available for Ebola patients had gone from zero to more than 500, she said.

And surveillance teams were now investigating nearly 400 alerts, and were capable of administering more than 2,000 tests a day, she added.

Belizaire also highlighted that efforts to trace contacts of known Ebola cases had ramped up, with 75 per cent of all contacts now being reached.

The WHO has said 95 per cent of contacts must be traced to get on top of the outbreak.

In neighbouring Uganda, the only other country hit, there have been 19 confirmed cases including two deaths, and 10 recovered patients.

Uganda has reported no new cases for 12 days.