Ebola Outbreak in DR Congo: One Case Confirmed in Eastern City of Goma

(Kinshasa, 17th, Comprehensive Foreign Report) Amid an ongoing Ebola virus outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), health authorities stated today that a laboratory has confirmed a positive case in the major eastern city of Goma. Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported that Jean-Jacques Muyembe, Director of the DRC's National Institute for Biomedical Research (INRB), told AFP: "A laboratory test has confirmed one positive case in Goma." He added that the patient is a woman who traveled to Goma while ill after her husband died from the Ebola virus in Bunia, the capital of Ituri province. Reuters reported that the World Health Organization (WHO) announced earlier today that the Ebola virus outbreak in the DRC and Uganda constitutes a "Public Health Emergency of International Concern" (PHEIC). The WHO noted that this outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain but has not yet reached the criteria for a "pandemic emergency." The WHO mentioned that as of yesterday, at least three areas in Ituri province—Bunia, Rwampara, and Mongwalu—had reported 80 suspected deaths, 8 laboratory-confirmed cases, and 246 suspected cases.