The announcement by the health ministry comes almost three months after the DRC declared the end of its eleventh Ebola outbreak.
A new case of Ebola has been identified near the town of Butembo in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the country’s health ministry has announced.
On February 1, a woman with symptoms of the deadly virus was found in the city of Biena, who died at Butembo Hospital on February 3. She was married to a man who had contracted the virus in an earlier outbreak.
“The provincial response team is already working hard. It will be supported by the national response team that will visit Butembo shortly, “the ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
The announcement could mark the start of the DRC’s twelve Ebola outbreaks since the virus was discovered near the Ebola River in 1976, more than double that of any other country.
It comes almost three months after the DRC announced the end of the eleven outbreak hundreds of miles away in the west, which infected 130 people and killed 55 people. -very much in the history of the disease.
The emergence of more cases could complicate efforts to eradicate COVID-19, which has infected 23,600 people and killed 681 in the DRC. A vaccination campaign is expected to begin during the first half of this year.
Ebola is a hemorrhagic fever caused by a virus that is spread through contact with body fluids. In extreme cases, it causes fatal hemorrhages of the internal organs, mouth, eyes or ears.