DRC Ebola Outbreak: New cases reported near Ugandan border

World
Europe

01:32

A new Ebola outbreak has been reported in an eastern province of the Democratic Republic of Congo. It comes just a week after the government had declared the deadly disease eradicated. Local authorities are now working with experts from the World Health Organization to contain the virus. Chris Ocamringa has more.

CHRIS OCAMRINGA KINSHASA, DR CONGO "A fresh Ebola outbreak has been reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo just a week after a previous outbreak was declared over."

Four people have tested positive in Mangina town in the DRC's North Kivu Province. The town has about 60-thousand people and is just a hundred kilometer from the Ugandan border. Last month, twenty people died of unidentified hemorrhagic fevers in the area. The Congolese government has dispatched a team of experts to help contain the spread of the disease.

OLY ILLUNGA MINISTER OF HEALTH, DR CONGO "The Health Ministry has sent a team of doctors to Beni and Mangina. They are going to try and stop Ebola from spreading. We are determined to contain this latest outbreak."

International experts who helped end the previous outbreak in northwestern DRC have also been sent to the affected area. The latest outbreak has occurred in an area that's been rocked by conflict for decades raising security concerns. According to reports from the World Health Organization, the new outbreak may have been caused by the unsafe burial of a 65-year-old woman in North Kivu province.

CHRIS OCAMRINGA KINSHASA, DR CONGO "This is the 10th Ebola outbreak to occur in the DRC. Chris Ocamringa, CGTN, Kinshasa, DRC."