| More on this report from yesterday. |
[An Nahar] An Ebola outbreak has been declared in northeast Democratic Republic of the Congo...formerly the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Zaire, and who knows what else, not to be confused with the Brazzaville Congo aka
Republic of Congo, which is much smaller and much more (for Africa) stable. DRC gave the world Patrice Lumumba and Joseph Mobutu, followed by years of tedious civil war. Its principle industry seems to be the production of corpses. With a population of about 74 million it has lots of raw material...
, the World Health Organization said Friday, after the virus caused three deaths in the area since April 22.
The WHO said the outbreak affects an equatorial forest region in Bas-Uele province, bordering Central African Republic.
The last Ebola outbreak in Congo in 2014 was quickly contained and killed 49 people according to official figures.
In a television address, Health Minister Oly Ilunga confirmed the outbreak while urging the population "not to panic".
The country "has taken all necessary measures to respond quickly and efficiently to this new outbreak," he said.
The WHO said it was working closely with DR Congo authorities to help deploy health workers and protective equipment in the remote area, which is difficult for teams to access, in order to "rapidly control the outbreak".