2nd Ebola death confirmed in Congo city near Rwandan border

Mackenzie Bean (Twitter) -

Health officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo have confirmed a second Ebola case in the city of Goma, which sits on the Congo-Rwandan border, according to CNN.

The patient died July 31 after being admitted to an Ebola treatment center a day earlier.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PhD, said the risk of Ebola's spread is high due to Goma's highly mobile population. More than 1 million people live in the city, and tens of thousands of people cross the border daily.

"We have been doing intensive preparedness work in Goma so that any new case is identified and responded to immediately," Dr. Tedros wrote in a July 31 tweet.

He said more than 5,000 health workers in Goma have received the Ebola vaccine. Officials have also provided additional infection control training to health centers and reinforced border screenings and airport monitoring.

Health officials said the latest confirmed Ebola infection does not appear to be linked to Goma's first case confirmed July 13.  As of July 28, the WHO has reported 2,671 confirmed and probable Ebola cases linked to the outbreak, including 1,790 deaths.

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