A doctor has become the first probable Ebola case in one of the Eastern Democratic Republic Of Congo's most violence-ridden and inaccessible zones, a scenario "we have all been dreading", the World Health Organisation said on Friday. Since the outbreak erupted on August 1, 103 persons confirmed and probable cases of Ebola have been identified in North Kivu and Ituri provinces, including 63 deaths, Congo's health ministry said in an overnight update.
A doctor living in the town of Oicha in North Kivu has been re-hospitalised with Ebola symptoms after his wife was confirmed as having the disease when she travelled to the nearby city of Beni, said Dr. Peter Salama, WHO's head of emergency operations. Oicha is almost entirely surrounded by ADF Ugandan Islamist militia, and there are "extremely serious security concerns" following many civilian killings, he said. Aid workers, priests and government officials are held hostage in the area, he added.
More than 100 armed groups operate in all of volatile eastern Congo, including zones in North kivu. The doctor is among 14 confirmed or probable cases among health workers.