Ebola kills two people in DR Congo,
but infections are of different strain
than in West Africa, health minister
says.
Two Ebola deaths have been
confirmed in the Democratic
Republic of Congo, the health
minister of the Central African
country said, though local
officials believe the cases are
unrelated to the outbreak in West
Africa that has killed more than 1,400
people..
Felix Kabange Numbi said on Sunday
that two of eight samples from the
northwest Equateur province came
back positive for the deadly disease.
Numbi said Congolese officials
believe Ebola had killed 13 people in
the region, including five health
workers.
He said 11 people were sick and in
isolation and that 80 contacts were
being traced, the Associated Press
reported.
"I declare an Ebola epidemic in the
region of Djera, in the territory of
Boende in the province of Equateur,"
Numbi said.
Different strains
However, Numbi said the infections
were of a different strain than those
in the outbreak in West Africa that
has killed more than 1,400 people
since March.
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, the health official said.
The outbreak in West Africa is the
Zaire strain.
The samples were from the region
where the World Health
Organisation (WHO) said an outbreak
of hemorrhagic gastroenteritis has
killed 70 people in recent weeks.
The WHO said last week those deaths
were not Ebola-related, but
WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl said
by email on Sunday that the
information was the result of
"miscommunication from the field".
A WHO spokesperson said the UN
health agency could not confirm the
results of the tests announced on
Sunday, which were carried out by
the Congolese authorities.
Congo has been hit by Ebola
outbreaks seven times before, but
the two deaths are the first ones in
recent times.
A total of 2,615 Ebola infections and
1,427 deaths have been recorded in
the outbreak now hitting West Africa,
according to figures released on
Friday by the WHO.
Sierra Leone has been hardest-hit,
with at least 910 cases and 392
deaths. Other affected countries
include Guinea, Liberia and Nigeria.

SOURCE:ALJAZEERA.COM

please do note that this case is totally unrelated to the ebola outbreak in W\AFRICA

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