KINSHASA, Oct. 14 -- Congo's health minister said earlier this month that the Ebola outbreak was "becoming increasingly localized," and on Tuesday the country's confirmed count passed 9,000, with 4,381 people dead and no approved vaccine or treatment for the strain behind it.

The latest situation report from Congo's Ebola task force, covering data to October 11, lists 9,066 confirmed cases, 4,381 deaths and 2,389 recoveries, a fatality rate of 48.3 percent. It is the largest and deadliest Ebola outbreak in Congo's history and the second-largest ever recorded, behind the epidemic of 2014 to 2016 in West Africa that infected more than 28,600 people and killed more than 11,000. It now spans 65 health zones in seven provinces.

The minister'...