MOSCOW, August 24 (RIA Novosti) – The Democratic Republic of Congo on Sunday confirmed two Ebola cases in the country, according to the officials as cited by Agence France-Presse.
"The results are positive. The Ebola virus is confirmed in DRC," Health Minister Felix Kabange Numbi said.
The samples were from the northwest Equateur province region, where the World Health Organization (WHO) said an outbreak of hemorrhagic gastroenteritis with Ebola-like symptoms has killed 70 people in recent weeks. At least 594 people contracted the decease. The WHO said last week those cases were not Ebola-related.
So far, a total of 2,615 Ebola cases, with 1,427 deaths have been recorded in the West African countries of Liberia, Nigeria, Guinea and Sierra Leone, according to the WHO.
The Ebola virus disease is a highly deadly illness with a 90 percent mortality rate. It is transmitted through direct contact with the blood or bodily fluids of the infected.
No licensed treatment or vaccine against the virus is yet available, though a number of companies in the United States, Japan and Canada have been working on one.
