Just days after it was reported that an unidentified illness had killed dozens in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Ministry of Health is saying that two samples has tested positive for Ebola. Both the BBC and Reuters report on the first reported Ebola cases outside West Africa since the historical outbreak began.
The World Health Organization (WHO) posted on their Twitter page that a Collaborating Centre will now do confirmatory testing, which will be able to determine the strain.
Head of Public Relations/Social Media for the World Health Organization, Gregory Härtl elaborated on his Twitter page saying, “Need to wait for confirmatory tests but yes there could be 2 different strains here,meaning two different events/outbreaks.”
In addition, Härtl posted “Ebola Confirmation tests for DRC will likely come tomorrow from Gabon.”
To date, Guinea, the country where the outbreak had its genesis, has reported 607 cases and 406 deaths. Liberia is now at 1,082 cases and 624 deaths, Sierra Leone has seen 910 cases and 392 deaths and Nigeria is reporting 16 cases and 5 fatalities.
This brings the outbreak total to 2,615 cases and 1,427 deaths. For more infectious disease news and information, visit and “like” the Infectious Disease News Facebook page
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