Health officials in Democratic Republic of Congo are
investigating a possible outbreak of Ebola in a village, the government and the
World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday.
Eugene Kabambi, a
spokesman for WHO in Congo, said the suspected outbreak was in the village of
Masambio in Bandundu province, more than 400 km (250 miles) northeast of the
capital Kinshasa.
Reuters report continues:
Congo has seen periodic
outbreaks of the disease, which since last year has killed more than 11,200
people in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea in the worst Ebola epidemic on
record.
A three-month outbreak
that killed 49 people late last year in the remote forests of northwestern
Congo was not related to the West African epidemic.
"What we know is
just suspicion ... For the time being, epidemiologists are on the ground
collecting samples to send to the lab," Kabambi said.
He added that he did not
know how many suspected cases there were or when they were first reported.
Congo's health minister called an emergency meeting on the suspected outbreak
on Thursday, Kabambi said.
Lomamy Kalema Shodu, a
medical adviser at the health ministry, confirmed the suspected cases and said
that the government was treating the situation very seriously.
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