1st Ebola case confirmed near Rwandan border

Mackenzie Bean (Twitter) -

Health officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo have confirmed the first Ebola case in a major city near the Rwandan border, spurring concerns of the outbreak's spread, reports The Washington Post.

Congo's Health Ministry confirmed the Ebola case July 13 in the city of Goma, which sits right on the Congo-Rwandan border. More than 1 million people live in Goma, and tens of thousands of people cross the border daily. 

"Because of the speed with which the patient was identified and isolated … the risk of it spreading in the rest of the city of Goma is small," the ministry said in a statement cited by The Post.

However, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PhD, said he would reconvene an expert panel to decide if the outbreak now constitutes a public health emergency of international concern.

As of July 12, the WHO has reported 2,477 confirmed and probable Ebola cases linked to the outbreak, including 1,655 deaths.

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