DR Congo's Ebola outbreak enters 'new phase'

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The Ebola outbreak of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has entered a "new phase" following the first reported case of the deadly virus in the northwestern city of Mbandaka, with a population of some one million, according to Xinhua citing the local health minister.

"We are entering a new phase of the Ebola outbreak that is now affecting three health zones, including an urban health zone," Health Minister Oly Ilunga Kalenga said in a statement.

The 23 people, who have died in the latest outbreak, had been detected in rural areas. But the first case found in a city means a major development in the outbreak, and there is the potential for an explosive increase in cases, according to a senior World Health Organization (WHO) official.

The WHO will hold an emergency meeting on Friday to consider the international risk posed by this first urban case, while the first 4,000 doses of experimental vaccine from the WHO to combat the Ebola outbreak have already arrived on Wednesday in Kinshasa.

The DRC is now in its ninth Ebola outbreak since 1976.

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Source(s): Reuters ,Xinhua News Agency