First Cases of Ebola In Congo, Two Deaths Confirmed

Congo’s health minister Felix Kabange Numbi said today that two deaths have been confirmed to be caused by Ebola, the first cases reported outside of West Africa since the outbreak began, according to reports from the Associated Press.
Ebola is suspected by Congolese officials to have killed 13 people in the Central African country, Numbi said, including five health workers. Besides the two dead, he said 11 people were sick and in isolation.
It is unclear if the two cases are linked to the West Africa outbreak, but Numbi said the infections were a different strain, AP reports.
The region where the samples were pulled has had an outbreak of hemorrhagic gastroenteritis that killed 70 people, the World Health Organization said. Eight of those people were tested for Ebola, with two tests coming back positive.
An estimated 2,615 people in West Africa have been infected with Ebola since March.
There is no known cure but some affected people have recovered after being given an experimental drug, ZMapp. However, supplies are now exhausted.
Also on Sunday, a British health worker infected with Ebola in Sierra Leone was flown back to the UK on an RAF jet. It is the first confirmed case of a Briton contracting the virus during the current outbreak.