New Ebola case confirmed in eastern Congo - lab report

A case of Ebola has been confirmed in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, according to an internal report on Friday from the national biomedical laboratory, five months after the end of the most recent flare-up there of the deadly virus.

Congo's health minister declined to confirm the information, but said a statement would be published shortly.

The positive test came from a two-year-old in a densely-populated neighbourhood of the city of Beni, the epicentre of the 2018-2020 outbreak that killed more than 2,200 people.

The report from the biomedical lab, the INRB, said three of the baby's neighbours presented symptoms consistent with Ebola last month and then died. None of them were tested for the virus.