美国有线新闻 CNN 刚果应对史上第二大埃博拉疫情（在线收听）

First the Democratic Republic of Congo, a large country in Central Africa, is struggling with the second largest outbreak of the Ebola virus ever. There have been more than 900 cases in the DRC since last August.

Ebola is highly contagious for people who've ha??d contact with the bodily fluids like blood of others who've had it. It causes fever, severe headaches, sometimes severe bleeding. And despite the fact that an experimental vaccine is now available, as well as new medications for Ebola patients, 574 people, more than half of those who've contracted Ebola in this latest outbreak have died.

Ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo only creates another problem for health workers who are trying to stop the spread of the disease. There are dozens of militias in the northeastern DRC where this Ebola outbreak is. Militants attacked a treatment center on Saturday, killing a police officer and wounding a medical worker. And two attacks on Ebola clinics last month forced the aid group Doctors Without Borders to put some of its efforts on hold. Experts say some Congolese don't understand Ebola and don't get treatment for it until it's too late.

The New York Times reports that there's sometimes distrust of medical workers, and that Congolese don't want people from other countries interfering with local funeral traditions. All of these challenges together makes it more difficult for health officials to contain the disease and help those who've caught it. Still, the outbreak that's killed hundreds in Africa's second largest country, is a lot smaller than the one that struck West Africa in 2014. The World Health Organization says that outbreak killed more than 11,000 people.