Health officials in Democratic Republic of Congo are investigating a
possible outbreak of Ebola.
The possible outbreak is in a village about 270 kilometers northeast
of the capital Kinshasa.
DR Congo Health minister Felix Kabange said response teams started
collecting samples on Thursday.
The possible outbreak of the deadly virus surfaced when six hunters
fell ill with symptoms of diarrhea, vomiting and bloody urine after killing an
antelope the day before that had been stumbling and was likely sick.
Four of the hunters have since died.
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| A child infected with Ebola (seen above) is taken away by stretcher |
However, Kabange says none suffered from a fever, the earliest and most
common symptom of the Ebola.
The samples should arrive in Kinshasa today (Friday) for testing but
Kabange said it will take 1 to 2 weeks to get confirmation of the disease.
In the past DR Congo has seen periodic outbreaks of Ebola, which since
December 2013 has killed more than 11,200 people in Liberia, Sierra Leone and
Guinea.
A three-month outbreak killed 49 people late last year in the remote
forests of northwestern Congo.