DRC Confirms Ebola Cases In South Kivu

Two cases of Ebola have been confirmed in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) South Kivu region. The government has since identified 120 contacts and vaccinated 20 in a bid to halt the spread of the virus.

The spread to South Kivu comes after cases were last month confirmed in the Congolese city of Goma, which is home to around two million people and sits near the Rwandan border. No new cases have been reported in the city since August 2 following a swift reaction by the authorities, which vaccinated more than 1,300 people in Goma.

Confirmation of the virus in South Kivu comes more than a year since the initial outbreak was identified.

Hopes that Ebola will soon be preventable and treatable were this week raised as drug trials reported survival rates of up to 90 per cent among those treated early.