Democratic Republic of Congo reports new Ebola case

The new case of a 46-year-old woman, who died on August 15, comes weeks after the country declared its 14th outbreak over.

The disease was discovered in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1976.
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The disease was discovered in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1976.

The Democratic Republic of Congo has confirmed a new case of Ebola in its violence-wracked east, just weeks after the end of a previous epidemic.

The sample from a 46-year-old woman who died on August 15 in Beni city, North Kivu province, "tested positive" for Ebola, DRC's health ministry said in a statement published late on Monday.

It added that tests showed the case is linked to a previous strain of the virus from 2018 and was not a new variant.

The ministry sought to reassure the public that officials were "hard at work on the ground" to respond to the situation.

Around 160 people have been identified as contact cases, it added.

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14th outbreak

Ebola is an often fatal viral haemorrhagic fever. The disease was named after a river in Zaire, as the country was known when it was discovered.

Human transmission is through body fluids, with the main symptoms being fever, vomiting, bleeding and diarrhoea.

The DRC early last month declared its latest Ebola outbreak over, more than two months after the virus re-emerged in the northwestern Equateur province.

There were four confirmed cases and one probable case, all of whom died, in what the World Health Organization said was the country's 14th outbreak since the disease was discovered there in 1976.

Last week, however, the WHO said DRC was investigating a suspected case.

READ MORE: DRC declares end to its fourteenth Ebola outbreak

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