A new Ebola outbreak has been declared in the Democratic Republic of Congo after the deaths of 17 people have been linked to the virus. At least one of the deceased has tested positive for the virus, the country’s health ministry has confirmed.
The DRC Ministry of Health announced Tuesday that two people near the city of Bikoro in Equateur province, which borders the Republic of Congo, have confirmed cases of the deadly disease. In all, 21 people seen by the health center over the past 5 weeks have had suspected cases of viral hemorrhagic fever, and 17 have died.
Ebola was first identified in 1976 and it ravaged West Africa between December 2013 and January 2016, during which time it killed more than 11,000 people. In 2014, a three-month outbreak in DR Congo killed 49 people.
The World Health Organisation declared Ebola was no longer an emergency in March 2016.
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