Five months after the most recent outbreak of Ebola was reported to be over, a new case has been confirmed in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

A boy, aged 3 years, had tested positive near the city of Beni, which was one of the epicenters of the 2018-2020 outbreak. The boy died on Wednesday, stated Health Minister Jean Jacques Mbungani. Around 100 people who may have been exposed have been identified and will undergo monitoring to see if they develop any symptoms. A report from Congo’s biomedical laboratory stated that three neighbors of the boy, in Beni’s Butsili neighborhood, had also developed symptoms consistent with Ebola last month and died. None of them were tested.

Congo has reported 12 outbreaks since the disease was identified in the forest near the Ebola River in 1976… (Reuters, October 9, 2021)