Ebola outbreak in DRC has peaked, say authorities, as infection rates slow

Dr Papy Mafuta, medical director of Katwa hospital, washes his hands in chlorine after treating patients in North Kivu province, DRC. Photograph: Gradel Muyisa Mumbere/Reuters

Authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have announced that the Ebola outbreak ravaging parts of the country has reached its peak.

For the first time since the epidemic was declared in May, the numbers of people becoming infected is slowing down, according to officials.