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New Ebola Case Confirmed in Eastern Congo, Linked to Previous Outbreak


FILE - A young woman reacts as a health worker injects her with the Ebola vaccine, in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, Aug. 5, 2019.
FILE - A young woman reacts as a health worker injects her with the Ebola vaccine, in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, Aug. 5, 2019.

A new case of Ebola virus has been confirmed in the city of Beni in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the country's National Institute for Biomedical Research said on Monday.

Genetic sequencing showed the case is linked to the 2018-2020 outbreak in North Kivu province, which killed nearly 2,300 people, the institute said in a statement.

Ebola can sometimes linger in the eyes, central nervous system and bodily fluids of survivors and flare up years later.

The World Health Organization said on Saturday that authorities were investigating a suspected Ebola case after a 46-year-old woman died in Beni after showing symptoms consistent with the disease.

Congo's dense tropical forests are a natural reservoir for the Ebola virus, which causes fever, body aches, and diarrhea.

The country has recorded 14 outbreaks since 1976.

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    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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