Geneva, Aug. 13 (SANA)The World Health Organization hopes to change the trajectory of theEbola outbreakin theDemocratic Republic of Congowithin three months by expanding contact tracing and treatment capacity, but warned that bringing transmission under control would not mean the outbreak was over.

The outbreak, which began in the northeastern province of Ituri, is spreading faster than any previous Ebola outbreak, with 4,499 confirmed cases and 2,061 deaths recorded, according to theWHO.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said improving contact tracing remained the main operational challenge, AFP reported. The organization aims to increase the proportion of contacts being monitored to 95%, from about 80% currently.

The WHO is also working to triple treatment capacity to 3,000 beds over the next 12 weeks, Tedros said.

Abdirahman Mahamud, WHO’s head of emergency response, said implementing all aspects of the response simultaneously across the five areas where transmission is occurring could change the course of the outbreak within three months.

The WHO cautioned, however, that controlling transmission would not mark the end of the outbreak, stressing that continued surveillance and epidemiological monitoring would be needed to prevent a resurgence.

The Democratic Republic of Congo declared its 17th Ebola outbreak on May 15. Two days later, the WHO declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, its highest level of international health alert.

Ebola spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person and can cause severe illness, including hemorrhagic fever. The virus has killed more than 15,000 people in Africa over the past five decades.