Congo town quarantined over Ebola outbreak

A TOWN at the centre of an outbreak of Ebola in The Republic of Congo has been cordoned off but the number of cases of the deadly disease had not changed, a World Health Organisation (WHO) official said on Thursday.

“The head of the district has placed Etoumbi in quarantine. Nothing goes in or out of the locality anymore, and the government will bring food for the population from tomorrow,” said Adamou Yada, WHO’s representative in Congo.

The latest outbreak of the virus has already killed nine people since the end of April in the forested northwestern Cuvette-Ouest region, where nearly 150 people died from Ebola in 2003. Neighbouring Gabon also had outbreaks in 2001 and 2002.