Ebola resurfaces in previous epidemic zone of Congo, WHO says

A deceased woman was found to have been infected with Ebola in an area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where an outbreak was declared over in June, the World Health Organization said.

The woman, the wife of an Ebola survivor, had sought treatment in a health centre in Butembo, in North Kivu province, for Ebola-like symptoms, the WHO said in a statement Sunday. Butembo was one of the epicenters of the world’s second-largest Ebola outbreak that lasted almost two years in eastern Congo, causing 3,481 cases and 2,299 deaths.

More than 70 contacts have been identified amid a WHO investigation, and sites visited by the patient are being disinfected, the agency said. “It is not unusual for sporadic cases to occur following a major outbreak,” WHO said.