A new Ebola case has been confirmed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), bringing the total number of infections since the 14th outbreak of the disease was declared in the country in April, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday. The Congolese Health Ministry "confirmed a third case of Ebola in Mbandaka on Wednesday, reports Xinhua news agency. "The 48-year-old man was a high-risk contact of the first case," the WHO Regional Office for Africa tweeted on Thursday, adding that 444 contact cases have been identified. The DRC declared its 14th Ebola outbreak on April 23 after the first case was confirmed in Mbandaka, the capital of DRC's northwestern province of Equateur, a city on the Congo River.
The first two confirmed cases, who were relatives, died after showing symptoms. DRC is experiencing its 14th Ebola outbreak since 1976. The current outbreak is the sixth since 2018 alone, the most frequent occurrence in the country's Ebola history. Previous outbreaks in Equateur province were in 2020 and 2018, with 130 and 54 recorded cases, respectively, according to the WHO. In December 2021, DRC has declared the end of its 13th Ebola outbreak in which eight cases were confirmed and three probable, including six deaths in North Kivu province.