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The Health Ministry’s announcement comes nearly three months after the DRC declared the end of its 11th 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 said.
A woman was found with symptoms of the deadly virus in the town of Biena on February 1, died in Butembo hospital on February 3. She was married to a man who had contracted the virus in a previous outbreak.
“The provincial response team is already working hard. It will be supported by the national intervention team which will soon go to Butembo, ”the ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
The announcement potentially marks the start of the 12th Ebola outbreak in DRC since the virus was discovered near the Ebola River in 1976, more than double that of any other country.
It comes nearly three months after the DRC announced the end of its 11th outbreak hundreds of kilometers to the west, which infected 130 people and killed 55. This outbreak overlapped with a previous one in the east which killed more than 2,200 people, the second – almost 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 people in DRC. A vaccination campaign should start in the first half of this year.
Ebola is a viral hemorrhagic fever that spreads through contact with bodily fluids. In extreme cases, it causes fatal bleeding from internal organs, mouth, eyes or ears.
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