A case of Ebola has been confirmed in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo five months after the end of the most recent outbreak there.
A three-year-old boy tested positive near the eastern city of Beni, one of the epicentres of the 2018-20 outbreak, and died from the disease on Wednesday, Health Minister Jean Jacques Mbungani said.
It was not immediately known if the case was related to the 2018-20 outbreak that killed more than 2,200 people in eastern Congo, the second-deadliest on record, or the flare-up that killed six this year.
About 100 people who may have been exposed to the virus have been identified and will be monitored to see if they develop any symptoms, he said.
An internal report from Congo's biomedical laboratory said three of the toddler's neighbours in Beni's densely-populated Butsili neighbourhood also presented symptoms consistent with Ebola last month and died, but none were tested.
Congo has recorded 12 outbreaks since the disease, which causes severe vomiting and diarrhoea and is spread through contact with body fluids, was discovered in the equatorial forest near the Ebola River in 1976.
"Thanks to the experience acquired in managing the Ebola virus disease during previous epidemics, we are confident that the response teams ... will manage to control this outbreak as soon as possible," Mr Mbungani said.
It is not unusual for sporadic cases to occur following a major outbreak, health experts say. Particles of the virus can remain present in semen for months after recovery from an infection.
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A man washes his hands in an attempt to stop the spread of the deadly Ebola virus in the city of Monrovia, Liberia. Abbas Dulleh / AP Photo -
A Nigerian port health official uses a thermometer on a passenger at the arrivals hall of Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos. On Wednesday, the death toll rose to at least 932 people in four West African countries. Sunday Alamba / AP Photo -
A Nigerian port health official wears protective gear at the arrivals hall of Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos. Sunday Alamba / AP Photo -
A woman washes her hands before she is allowed to enter a building as part of a Ebola prevention campaign in Sierra Leone. Michael Duff / AP Photo -
The Gulf Stream III that was used to transport Ebola victims. Dr Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol and an Airborne Biological Containment System (ABCS) similar to the one used on both flights sit in a hanger in Cartersville, Georgia. Phoenix Air, the company that transported Ebola victims Dr. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol, held a press conference to discuss the two flights that carried the victims from Liberia to Marietta, Georgia. Branden Camp / EPA -
Several paramedics, wearing protective suits, move Spanish missionary Miguel Pajares, who is infected with Ebola, into an ambulance upon his arrival at Spanish Air Force base in Torrejon de Ardoz, outside Madrid. Spanish Defence Military / EPA -
The Ebola Virus. CDC / AP Photo -
A South Korean quarantine officer, left, checks body temperature of a passenger against possible infections of Ebola virus at the Incheon International Airport in Incheon, South Korea. South Korea has been stepping up monitoring of its citizens returning from trips to West Africa and other areas affected by the deadly Ebola virus. Choe Jae-koo / Yonhap / AP Photo -
Authorities in West African are battling to contain the spread of Ebola but will have to wait for months until a potentially life-saving experimental drug known as ZMapp, which was used on two Americans infected with the dreaded disease, could be produced for use in Africa. Sunday Alamba / AP Photo -
Director General of the World Health Organization, WHO, China’s Margaret Chan and Assistant Director General for Health Security Keiji Fukuda of the US, right, share a word during a press conference after an emergency meeting at the headquarters of the WHO in Geneva, Switzerland. Salvatore Di Nolfi / AP Photo / Keystone -
People walk past a billboard encouraging people suffering from symptoms linked to Ebola to present themselves at a health facility for treatment in Freetown. The outbreak that emerged in March has claimed at least 932 lives. Michael Duff / AP Photo -
A trader wearing rubber gloves to avoid transmission of Ebola passes money to a client at the shop in Freetown. Michael Duff / AP Photo -
Jeremy Writebol is one of two Americans working for a missionary group in Liberia that have been diagnosed with Ebola. Courtesy Jeremy Writebol / AP Photo
The disease typically kills about half of those it infects although treatments developed since the record 2014-16 outbreak in West Africa have significantly reduced death rates when cases are detected early.
Two highly effective vaccines manufactured by Merck and Johnson & Johnson have also been used to contain outbreaks since then.
The 2018-20 outbreak, however, became as deadly as it did because the response was hampered by mistrust of medical workers by the local population as well as violence by some of the armed militia groups active in eastern Congo.
