Thursday, December 25, 2008

Congo government declares Ebola outbreak in south

Thursday, December 25 2008 at 18:13

A mysterious disease that has killed nine people in southern Democratic Republic of Congo has been identified as the deadly Ebola virus, the Congolese health minister said on Thursday.

The virus appeared in southern Western Kasai province on November 27, and blood and stool samples were sent to laboratories in Gabon and South Africa for identification.

"Following the analysis of samples taken in (the village of) Kalwamba, it is now recognised that we are facing an epidemic of the viral haemorrhagic fever Ebola," said health minister Auguste Mopipi Mukulumanya.

There is no cure or treatment for Ebola, which kills 50 to 90 percent of its victims.

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