A fresh outbreak of the Ebola virus has killed at least three people in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Reuters reported on Friday.
The central African country’s Ministry of Health said that one case had been confirmed out of nine people who came down with a hemorrhagic fever in the Bas-Uele Province of the country.
The World Health Organisation confirmed the development, saying it would send a team of epidemiologists and biologists to the affected area on or before Saturday (today) to bring in Ebola vaccines.
“Since April 22, nine suspected cases, including three deaths, have been reported. Six cases are currently hospitalised,” WHO spokesperson for the country, Eric Kabambi, said.
He added that the outbreak was in “a very remote zone, very forested, so we are a little lucky. We always take this very seriously.”
Ebola is a deadly hemorrhagic fever that occasionally jumps to humans from animals, including bats and monkeys. Without preventive measures, the virus can spread quickly between people and is fatal in up to 90 per cent of cases.
An experimental vaccine was recently developed that WHO said could be used in emergencies.
It was created after a 2014 outbreak of the disease in West Africa, which claimed the lives of thousands of people, becoming the deadliest occurrence of the disease since its discovery in 1976.
