New Ebola case confirmed in eastern Congo, linked to previous outbreak

[August 23, 2022]  DAKAR (Reuters) -A new case of Ebola virus has been confirmed in the city of Beni in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the country's National Institute for Biomedical Research (INRB) said on Monday.

Testing showed the case was genetically linked to the 2018-2020 outbreak in North Kivu and Ituri provinces, which killed nearly 2,300 people, said a statement from Placide Mbala, chief of the Pathogen Genomics Laboratory at INRB.

Another flare-up from that outbreak killed six people last year. Congo's most recent outbreak was in a different part of the country, and was declared over in July after five deaths.

Ebola can sometimes linger in the eyes, central nervous system and bodily fluids of survivors and flare up years later.

The case was confirmed in a woman who died on Aug. 15 after being admitted to a hospital in Beni on July 23, the statement said.

"Our initial findings indicate that this case likely represents a new flare-up of the 2018-2020 Nord Kivu/Ituri outbreak, initiated by transmission of Ebola virus from a persistently infected survivor or a survivor who experienced a relapse," it said.

A Congolese health worker administers Ebola vaccine to a boy who had contact with an Ebola sufferer in the village of Mangina in North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, August 18, 2018. REUTERS/Olivia Acland

Investigations are ongoing to determine the source.

At least 131 contacts of the woman have been identified including 60 front-line healthcare workers, 59 of whom are vaccinated against Ebola, said the statement.

The World Health Organization said on Saturday that authorities were investigating a suspected Ebola case in Beni after a 46-year-old woman died.

Congo's dense tropical forests are a natural reservoir for the Ebola virus, which causes fever, body aches, and diarrhoea.

The country has recorded 14 outbreaks since 1976. The 2018-2020 outbreak in the east was Congo's largest and the second largest ever recorded, with nearly 3,500 total cases.

(Reporting by Nellie PeytonEditing by James Macharia Chege and Mark Potter)

[© 2022 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]  This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.