DR Congo on Wednesday reported an outbreak of Ebola in its conflict-torn east, killing 20 people, barely a week after it declared the end to an epidemic in the northwest of the vast country.
The eastern province of North Kivu notified the health ministry of “26 cases of fever with haemorrhagic indications, of which 20 were fatal,” Health Minister Oly Ilunga Kalenga said in a statement.
The outbreak has occurred in the Beni region of North Kivu — the stronghold of a notorious Ugandan-linked Islamist militia called the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF).
“At this point, there is no indication that these two epidemics, which are more than 2,500 kilometres (1,500 miles) apart, are connected,” he said.
Six samples taken from hospitalised patients arrived in Kinshasa on Tuesday for analysis by the National Institute of Biomedical Research (INRB), he said.
Of the six, four tested positive for Ebola virus disease.
Twelve health ministry experts will arrive in Beni on Thursday, Ilunga added.
On July 24, Ilunga himself had declared the end to a 10-week outbreak that struck the northwestern Democratic Republic of Congo, claiming 33 lives and prompting international concern.
Cases emerged in the northwestern city of Mbandaka, a city and transport hub on the Congo River with a population of more than a million.
For many experts that ranked among worst-case scenarios — contagious disease in an urban setting is far harder to contain than in the countryside, especially in a poor country with a fragile health system.
The epidemic was fought with help from the World Health Organisation (WHO), which rushed emergency aid, including protective gear, and unlocked US$2 million in fast-track financing.