Illness with Ebola-like Symptoms Kills Several in Congo – Official

Kinshasa (Reuters/NAN) –  Michel Wangi, a spokesman for Governor’s Office, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), said an illness was spreading in Boende

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He said on Thursday in Kinshasa that the origin of the illness was unknown, and it was of big concern to Government.

Wangi said government had sent experts from National Institute of Biomedical Research (INRB), led by Acting Governor Sebastian Impeto and Kabange Numbi,Health Minister, to the region to find the cause of the disease.

He said several people had died from a disease with Ebola-like symptoms, but it was not immediately clear if there was any connection with Ebola.

An Equateur resident, who preferred anonymity, said more than 10 people have died, including four health care workers.

He said they all died after suffering from Ebola-like symptoms, “which include fever, diarrhoea and bleeding from the ears and nostrils.’’

Congo does not share borders with any of the countries affected by the virus in West Africa.

But the country had seen several outbreaks since the first case was detected near the Ebola River in northern Congo in 1976.