source: reuters
A case of Ebola has been confirmed in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s South Kivu province, hundreds of kilometres from the outbreak’s epicentre, the rebel alliance that controls the area said on Thursday.
The case, in a rural area near the provincial capital Bukavu, signals the spread of an outbreak that experts believe circulated undetected for around two months in Ituri province, several hundred kilometres to the north, before being identified last week.
The outbreak has resulted in 160 suspected deaths out of 670 suspected cases, and 61 of the cases have been confirmed, according to DRC health ministry data published on Thursday.
Two cases have also been confirmed in neighbouring Uganda, which said on Thursday it would suspend flights to the DRC, effective within the next 48 hours, as a precautionary measure.
The WHO declared the outbreak of the virus’s Bundibugyo strain – for which there is no vaccine – a public health emergency of international concern over the weekend.
The Alliance Fleuve Congo, which includes the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels who seized swathes of eastern DRC last year, said the 28-year-old patient in South Kivu had died and been buried safely.
It said the individual had travelled from the northern city of Kisangani, but gave no details of recent movements.
South Kivu health spokesperson Claude Bahizire told Reuters earlier on Thursday that two suspected cases had been detected in the province, including the fatal case. The other patient was in isolation awaiting test results, he said.
An Ebola case was also confirmed last week in Goma, capital of neighbouring North Kivu province, which is under M23 control.
