The health ministry’s announcement came almost three months after the DRC declared the end of its 11th Ebola outbreak.
A new case of Ebola has been identified near the city of Butembo, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the country’s health ministry announced.
A woman was found with symptoms of the deadly virus in the city of Biena on February 1, who died in the hospital in Butembo on February 3. She was married to a man who had contracted the virus in a previous outbreak.
“The provincial response team is already working hard. It will be supported by the national response team that will visit Butembo soon, ”the ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
The announcement potentially marks the beginning of the 12th Ebola outbreak in the DRC since the virus was discovered near the Ebola River in 1976, more than double that of any other country.
It comes almost three months after the DRC announced the end of its 11th outbreak hundreds of kilometers away in the west, which infected 130 people and killed 55. This outbreak coincided with a previous one in the east that killed more than 2,200 people. -more in the history of the disease.
The emergence of more cases could complicate efforts to eradicate COVID-19, which has infected 23,600 people and killed 681 in the DRC. The vaccination campaign is scheduled to start in the first half of this year.
Ebola is a hemorrhagic fever caused by a virus that spreads through contact with body fluids. In extreme cases, it causes fatal bleeding from internal organs, mouth, eyes or ears.