Africa's top public health agency has declared an Ebola outbreak in the eastern Ituri province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with 246 cases and 80 deaths reported so far, mainly in the gold-mining towns of Mongwalu and Rwampara.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said preliminary laboratory tests conducted at the Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale in Kinshasa have confirmed the virus in 13 of 20 samples, while further tests are underway to determine the strain. Of the reported deaths, four were among confirmed cases.
