Health authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo have declared a new Ebola outbreak after a recent case emerged.
The case was confirmed in a 31-year-old man, who began showing symptoms on April 5 and went to a local health facility after being sick at home for more than a week, according to CNN. He was admitted to an Ebola treatment center on Thursday for intensive care but died hours later.
Health care workers recognized the symptoms and "immediately" submitted samples for testing, the World Health Organization said. Investigators are still looking for the source of the outbreak.
"Time is not on our side," Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO regional director for Africa, said in a statement.
"The disease has had a 2-week head start, and we are now playing catch-up," she said. "The positive news is that health authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have more experience than anyone else in the world at controlling Ebola outbreaks quickly."
This is the third outbreak in the country's northwestern Equateur Province in recent years, with 54 cases reported in 2018 and 130 cases reported in 2020. It also marks the 14th Ebola outbreak in the country since 1976, the year the virus was discovered.
