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Second Ebola Case Detected in Congo's Goma City - Report

© AP Photo / Abbas DullehHealth workers carry the body of a man suspected of dying from the Ebola virus and left in the street
Health workers carry the body of a man suspected of dying from the Ebola virus and left in the street - Sputnik International
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A second case of Ebola was detected on Tuesday in the eastern Congolese city of Goma, Reuters reported, citing a Congolese health official.

The news reportedly sparked fears that the virus could establish a foothold in the densely-populated area close to the Rwandan border.

"All measures have been put in place so that the case is taken care of in Goma", a health official quoted the head of Congo's Ebola response team, Jean-Jacques Muyembe, saying in an official statement, according to Reuters.

On 17 July, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that the Ebola outbreak in the DRC constitutes a public health emergency of international concern. According to UN data, over 1,700 people have died from the virus in the DRC.

The Ebola virus is transmitted to humans from wild animals and is considered by WHO to have a 50-percent fatality rate. Ebola is named after the DRC's Ebola River, near which the virus was discovered by Belgian microbiologist Peter Piot and his team in 1976.

Meanwhile, the DRC Health Ministry has recorded 2,501 confirmed and suspected Ebola infection cases since the latest outbreak began last summer. More than 1,600 of those patients died, while another 700 were successfully treated.

The most severe Ebola outbreak to date took place in West Africa in 2014-2015, resulting in the death of over 11,000 people.

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