Tests showed the outbreak was genetically linked to the 2018-2020 outbreak in North Kivu and Ituri provinces, which killed nearly 2,300 people, said a statement by Placide Mbala, head of the Pathogen Genomics Laboratory at the INRB.
Another outbreak of this outbreak killed six people last year. Congo’s most recent outbreak was in a different part of the country and was declared over in July after five deaths.
Ebola can sometimes remain in the eyes, central nervous system and body fluids of survivors and break out years later.
The case was confirmed in a woman who died on August 15 after being admitted to a hospital in Beni on July 23, the statement said.
“Our initial findings indicate that this case likely represents a new outbreak of the 2018-2020 Nord Kivu/Ituri outbreak, initiated by transmission of Ebola virus from a persistently infected or relapsed survivor,” it said.
Investigations are ongoing to determine the source.
At least 131 contacts of the woman have been traced, including 60 frontline health workers, 59 of whom are vaccinated against Ebola, the statement said.
The World Health Organization announced on Saturday that authorities are investigating a suspected case of Ebola in Beni after the death of a 46-year-old woman.
Congo’s dense rainforests are a natural reservoir for the Ebola virus, which causes fever, body aches and diarrhea.
The country has recorded 14 cases since 1976. The 2018-2020 outbreak in the east was Congo’s largest and the second largest ever recorded, with nearly 3,500 total cases.
(Reporting by Nellie PeytonEditing by James Macharia Chege and Mark Potter)
