The Democratic Republic of the Congo has reported a second case of Ebola in the north western part of the country after declaring a new Ebola outbreak over the weekend.

This is confirmed on Tuesday by the World Health Organisation (WHO). “Health authorities in the DRC confirmed the second case of Ebola in Mbandaka on April 25.

“The 25-year-old woman, now deceased, began experiencing symptoms 12 days earlier,” tweeted WHO regional office for Africa.

It said that the second case was the sister-in-law of the first case-patient who had also died.

The DRC had declared the 14th outbreak of the Ebola virus on April 23, after one was confirmed and was reported in Mbandaka, a city in the DRC’s Equateur Province.

The patient, a 31-year-old man, began experiencing symptoms on April 5 and after more than a week of care at home, sought treatment at a local health facility.

On April 21, the patient was admitted to an Ebola treatment centre for intensive care but died later that day.

Health authorities were working closely to monitor the people in contact with the deceased patients, said WHO.

DRC is experiencing its 14th Ebola outbreak since 1976. The current outbreak is the sixth since 2018 alone, the most frequent occurrence in the country’s Ebola history.

(Xinhua/NAN)