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At least 33 people have been infected with the deadly Ebola virus over the past week, of which 24 have died since, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Ministry of Health said.
According to the ministry, the cases were discovered between October 8th and 14th.
So far, 211 confirmed and probable cases of Ebola have been reported since early July, when the last outbreak of the disease began, said the World Health Organization (WHO).
Of these, 138 people died as a result of the extremely deadly haemorrhagic fever.
All cases were found in the northeastern region of Central Africa, WHO said.
The latest outbreak of Ebola began in July and could last another three to four months, the WHO said.
In recent weeks, the rate of new Ebola cases has more than doubled after rebel violence in northeastern DRC, which briefly suspended intervention efforts, public health officials said early of the week.
Most of the new cases occurred in Beni, a city of several hundred thousand people, where experts had to suspend their efforts to contain the Ebola virus for several days after a deadly rebel attack killed 21 people. .
The Congolese army attributed this attack to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a notorious rebel group.
With several armed groups active in the area, health officials said they were operating effectively in a war zone.
In response to the violence, the government announced that it would deploy security forces to protect teams carrying the bodies of Ebola victims for burial purposes.
Earlier this week, the WHO noted that all health workers who contracted Ebola during this epidemic – 19 to date – have been infected outside of hospitals or clinics, which means that the virus is spread in the community.
Following the rapid increase in the number of cases in northeastern DRC, the WHO has also warned that the disease could spread to neighboring countries, Rwanda and Uganda, adding that these countries were well prepared but had not yet approved the use of a vaccine. – Al Jazeera
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