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Rwanda, Congo Restrict Unnecessary Border Travel Amid Ebola


FILE - A health worker dressed in a protective suit talks to medical staff at the newly constructed MSF (Doctors Without Borders) Ebola treatment center in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, Aug. 4, 2019.
FILE - A health worker dressed in a protective suit talks to medical staff at the newly constructed MSF (Doctors Without Borders) Ebola treatment center in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, Aug. 4, 2019.

Rwanda and Congo are discouraging travel across their border, as officials try to prevent further spread of the highly contagious Ebola virus.

Travel restrictions are part of measures taken by Rwandan and Congolese health officials who met in Rwanda late on Tuesday.

According to a statement issued at the end of the meeting, people traveling across the border for non-essential reasons such as attending workshops and religious crusades will need clearance from both governments.

The Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo has killed more than 1,800 people.

Rwanda briefly closed its border with Congo last week after a patient tested positive for Ebola in Goma, a Congolese city of more than 2 million people about 7 kilometers (4.5 miles) from Rwanda's main border town of Gisenyi.

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