After A Weekend Of Olympic Tri- Cheering, We Are Back At It -- From An Airport -- DRC's Ebola Situation Has Grown Much Worse, In Just A Week.

While I was off-grid last week, most Western journalists reduced the count of Ebola cases -- and deaths, in Africa. They did so, because WHO is now only counting cases confirmed by Western-style diagnostic testing.

But several hundreds were buried, without any intervention -- before the outbreak was declared -- and so no testing will ever occur, on those -- as "Great Death has made them his, forevermore¹". These long-departed are almost certainly Ebola victims. [Thus our graphic this morning, cobbled together by phone, from the airport -- attempts to true the results up.]

Even so, the official count of cases is now 515.

Before I left, the very reasonably suspected cases stood at over 1,100 -- mostly in the gold mining (and strife torn) districts in remote eastern Ituri province -- Democratic Republic of the Congo. Today it is certainly much higher.

And so -- to be clear -- for our part, our graphics will include the suspected cases -- so we now show over 1,615. Because that is the most likely truth -- and deaths are at over 310, based on similar logic.

This is likely to end as the second worst outbreak in recorded history for ebola -- with only the 2012 to 2014 one recording more cases and deaths. [Thanks, Elon and Donald!] Here is Reuters, reporting on the latest, overnight:

. . .Democratic Republic of ‌Congo said on Sunday that the number of ⁠confirmed Ebola cases had increased to 515 after 27 new samples ‌tested ⁠positive in the previous 24 hours.

The confirmed ⁠cases include 91 deaths, ⁠government data showed. . . .

Obviously, DRC officials are now likely willing to under-report, so as not to kill their inter-country economies. [Afterall, nothing more may be done -- for what Charles Hamilton Sorley called "the mouthless dead".] But the truth is -- and will be -- far worse. Trust that.

Back in the Chi-, by tonight. . . and -- a few thumbnails of the weekend's shenanigans.

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_{1. "When You See Millions of the Mouthless Dead" Charles Hamilton Sorley (1915)}

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