Health officials turn to mobile-phone data to track Ebola spread in Congo

DAKAR: Health officials battling the Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are using anonymised mobile-phone data to map population movements and identify areas where the virus ​could spread next, according to the World Health Organisation and researchers ​working with it.

The approach, which has not been used before in an Ebola response, comes as authorities struggle to contain what the ​WHO has described as the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record. Cases have been confirmed in six provinces, with more than 6,250 people infected and 3,039 killed since the outbreak was declared on May 15, according to the latest government data.