The Democratic Republic of Congo’s ministry of health has announced nine suspected cases of ebola after three people died of a hemorrhagic fever that tested positive for the Ebola virus, in the northern Bas-Uele province.
The new case was confirmed by a national reference laboratory in Kinshasa and the World Health Organization and partners are supporting the DRC’s Ministry of Health on the Ebola response
According to WHO, the deaths signal the start of a new outbreak.
This latest Ebola outbreak is Congo’s eighth, the most of any country. The deadly hemorrhagic fever was first detected in its dense tropical forests in 1976 and named after the nearby river Ebola.
More than 11,000 people died of Ebola between 2014 and 2015 with Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone been the worst hit.
