CONGO – The deadly Ebola has hit the African region once again with the Democratic Republic of Congo reporting more suspected cases today.
As of today, 17 new suspected cases have been reported with two now confirmed by the government of Congo, putting fears that the virus might spread further. Three victims of the virus had died since it was first reported on 22 April this year.
Health workers are trying to trace 125 people thought to be linked to the cases in the country’s remote northeastern province of Bas-Uele, near the border with the Central African Republic.
According to the World Health Organisation, they are still unsure of the cause of outbreak, but infected animals such as apes have been a prime suspect.
The Congo Health Minister Oly Ilunga has also issued a statement asking people to not panic.
The latest outbreak comes a year after an Ebola epidemic in West Africa which killed more than 11,300 people, mostly from Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
First detected in 1976, near the River Ebola in DRC, the virus has had seven outbreaks in the country since, the most recent in 2014, which killed 49 people.
