Congo health officials investigating possible Ebola case

Health authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo are investigating a suspected case of Ebola in the country’s east, the World Health Organization said.

A 46-year-old woman died on Monday in the city of Beni, one of the centres of an Ebola outbreak from 2018 to 2020 that killed nearly 2,300 people.

She was initially treated for other ailments but then developed symptoms consistent with Ebola, WHO said in a statement.

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

The country has recorded 14 outbreaks since 1976. It declared an end last month to its latest outbreak, in northwestern Congo, which caused five deaths.

Reporting by Aaron Ross; Editing by Mike Harrison