Democratic Republic of Congo Declares Ebola Outbreak in Northern Equateur Province

reuters.com - (Reporting by Bienvenu-Marie Bakumanya; Writing by Daniel Flynn; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
August 24, 2014

(Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo declared an Ebola outbreak in its northern Equateur province on Sunday after two out of eight cases tested came back positive for the deadly virus, Health Minister Felix Kabange Numbi said.

A mysterious disease has killed dozens of people in Equateur in recent weeks but the World Health Organization had said on Thursday it was not Ebola.

"I declare an Ebola epidemic in the region of Djera, in the territory of Boende in the province of Equateur," Kabange Numbi told a news conference. . .

. . . Numbi said that one of the two cases that tested positive was for the Sudanese strain of the disease, while the other was a mixture between the Sudanese and the Zaire strain -- the most lethal variety.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

ALSO SEE RELATED ARTICLES IN THE LINKS BELOW:

BBC - Ebola outbreak confirmed by DR Congo
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-28922290

Mashable - 2 People Have Died of Ebola in DR Congo, 'Nothing to Do With' West Africa Epidemic: Minister
http://mashable.com/2014/08/24/2-people-died-ebola-congo/

AllAfrica - Congo-Kinshasa: DRC Confirms First Ebola Cases, Making It Fifth African Nation Affected By Outbreak
http://allafrica.com/stories/201408240109.html

AllAfrica - Congo-Kinshasa: Health Minister Confirms Ebola Deaths in Congo
http://allafrica.com/stories/201408240108.html