Another Ebola outbreak hits DRC days after previous outbreak declared over

Aug. 1 (UPI) -- A new Ebola outbreak was reported Wednesday in the Democratic Republic of Congo, days after a previous outbreak there was declared to be over.

Four cases of the disease were positively confirmed in the country's North Kivu province and more are anticipated, Dr. Oly Ilunga Kalenga, the country's health minister, said. The health ministry is investigating reports of viral hemorrhagic fever. Since last weekend, 20 have died and 26 more have symptoms suggesting any of several viral infections, including Ebola.

He added that there is no indication that the outbreak is related to the epidemic in Equateur province, which is 1,500 miles away, that was declared over by the World Health Organization on July 25.

Over 50 people were infected in the Equateur outbreak and 33 died, Congolese officials said.

The North Kivu is Congo's third Ebola outbreak in 2018, but officials this time have large supplies of vaccines and the means to educate the country's population about symptoms. It also is prepared to transport experts to the site of the newest outbreak, NBC News reported Wednesday.

An outbreak from 2014 to 2016 killed over 11,000 people in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.