On Sunday, the Democratic Republic of the Congo officially declared an Ebola virus outbreak in the northern province of Equateur, a region that is about 750 miles north of the country's capital. This announcement came after tests for the deadly virus came back positive for two out of the eight noted cases in the area. Congo is now the fifth country to be struck by the lethal virus.
The World Health Organization has already dispatched medical equipment and staff to the stricken country. A spokesperson for the WHO, Tarik Jasarevic, said that, "The ministry of health has declared an outbreak and we are treating it as such."
Health Minister Felix Kabange Numbi said, "I declare an Ebola epidemic in the region of Djera, in the territory of Boende in the province of Equateur." Numbi went on further, saying that of the two strains sound on the infected patients, one was the Sudanese strain, while the other is a combination of the Sudanese and Zaire strains. The Zaire strain is known as the most lethal variety of the virus, and is responsible for the death of over 1,400 people in West Africa since the outbreak began in March. Officials believe that there are 13 other people within this region that have been infected and killed by the Ebola virus, including five health workers. Minister Numbi said that, at the moment, there are 11 infected people that have already been put in isolation, while 80 other people who may have come in contact with the infected are being traced. The Djera region will be quarantined in an effort to contain the virus.
In recent weeks, at least 70 people in the same province died due to a "mysterious disease" that health officials are now saying that these deaths were not Ebola but hemorrhagic gastroenteritis.