An outbreak of Ebola in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo has killed more than 200 people. Almost 300 Ebola cases have been confirmed since the outbreak began in August, authorities say.

The health ministry said half of the cases were in Beni, a city of 800,000 people, in the North Kivu province.

The outbreak is in a conflict zone where dozens of armed groups operate. Aid agencies have been forced to suspend or slow down their work on several occasions since the outbreak.

Health Minister Oly Ilunga said his response teams "have faced threats, physical assaults, repeated destruction of their equipment and kidnapping."

"Two of our colleagues in the Rapid Response Medical Unit have even lost their lives in an attack," Ilunga said.

Ebola was detected in the DRC in 1976. The current outbreak is the tenth since it was first discovered.

The World Health Organization has warned the virus could spread to nearby countries, including Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi.

Medical workers have lots of experience dealing with Ebola outbreaks in the DRC. Fortunately, they have new tools to fight the deadly virus. A new vaccine has shown it can protect people who've come into contact with Ebola victims, and more people have learned techniques to keep the virus from spreading.

However, old problems persist with every outbreak. Some people still refuse to believe Ebola exists and have hidden infected family members. Traditional burial practices also put people at risk. </s> KINSHASA, Congo — A Congolese civil society group says that 18 people have been killed in attacks by suspected Allied Democratic Forces rebels in the eastern city of Beni, as the city and region continue to face an Ebola outbreak.

The U.N.-backed Radio Okapi reported Sunday that 14 civilians and 4 soldiers were killed in the attacks Saturday in the Rwenzori community of Beni.

The ADF rebels attacked a military position and the battle caused the deaths. Radio Okapi also reported many market stalls were looted by the suspected Uganda-based rebels.

Such attacks hamper efforts to contain an Ebola outbreak that Congo’s ministry said has infected at least 118 people, including 69 people who have died.

Congo’s tenth outbreak was declared on Aug. 1. More than 10,000 people have since been vaccinated. </s> KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Congo's health ministry says the latest Ebola outbreak has now become the worst in the country's recorded history with 319 confirmed and probable cases.

The ministry said late Friday that the deadly virus has killed about 198 people since the outbreak was declared Aug. 1 in the volatile east. Those dead include 163 confirmed Ebola cases, with 35 probable deaths.

This is Congo's 10th outbreak since 1976, when the hemorrhagic fever was first identified in Yambuku.

Health Minister Dr. Oly Ilunga Kalenga said the figures now exceed that outbreak. He said no other epidemic has been as complex.

Armed groups vying for control of Congo's mineral-rich east have staged regular attacks in Congo's Ituri and North Kivu provinces, complicating the response by health officials who are also meeting community resistance. </s> The death toll from an Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has risen to more than 200.

The health ministry said it had recorded 201 deaths from the virus and that 291 cases have been confirmed since the outbreak began in August.

About half of the cases were in Beni, a city of 800,000 people, in the North Kivu region.

The United Nation’s Department of Peacekeeping on Friday called on armed groups active in the region not to hinder efforts to fight the disease.

Teams responsible for responding to the outbreak “have faced threats, physical assaults, repeated destruction of their equipment and kidnapping,” Health Minister Oly Ilunga said.

“Two of our colleagues in the Rapid Response Medical Unit have even lost their lives in an attack,” he said.

The outbreak is the 10th in DR Congo since Ebola was first detected there in 1976.

Ebola is a serious infectious disease that can spread rapidly through small amounts of bodily fluid. It causes internal bleeding and can be fatal.

Since a vaccination programme began on August 8, more than 25,000 people have been innoculated, the health ministry said earlier this month. </s> Image copyright Reuters Image caption Medical teams are vaccinating people to help stop the spread of the virus

The latest outbreak of the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo is the worst in the country's history, the health ministry says.

Almost 200 people have died since August, officials say, with more than 300 confirmed or probable cases.

A vaccination programme has so far inoculated about 25,000 people.

DR Congo has suffered long years of instability and efforts to relieve the disease have been hampered by attacks on medical workers.

"At this point, 319 cases and 198 deaths have been registered," health minister Oly Ilunga said.

"In view of these figures, my thoughts and my prayers go to the hundreds of families grieving, to the hundreds of orphans and the families which have been wiped out."

About half the victims were from Beni, a city of 800,000 in the North Kivu region, the national health authority said.

The current outbreak is the tenth DR Congo has suffered and the worst since the country's first epidemic in 1976, so early in the disease's history it had yet to be named.

The outbreak in 1976 of what was then an unknown disease in a remote part of DR Congo sparked terror, but was brought under control by experts quickly identifying the virus' nature and using quarantines.

Ebola is spread via small amounts of bodily fluid and infection often proves fatal.

Early symptoms are flu-like, followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, a rash and internal and external bleeding. </s> One of the deadliest Ebola outbreaks in history continues to worsen in the Democratic Republic of Congo with as many as 319 people now dead.

The Ministry of Health said Tuesday that 542 Ebola cases had been recorded in the province of North Kivu — 494 of which have been confirmed. Of the 319 believed to have died from the virus so far, 271 have been confirmed.

On average, Ebola — which causes fever, severe headache and in some cases hemorrhaging — kills about half of those infected, but fatality rates in individual outbreaks have varied.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said efforts to contain the outbreak have been hampered due to “non-engagement” from local communities and armed conflict in the region.

North Kivu, which includes the cities of Beni, Kalunguta and Mabalako, remains the epicenter of the outbreak, though cases have been reported in neighboring Ituri province, according to the WHO. The two provinces are among the most populated in the nation and border Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan.

The public health agency estimates that more than a million refugees and internally displaced people are traveling through and out of North Kivu and Ituri, which could hasten the spread of the virus further.

The Congo outbreak is the second-deadliest ever, behind only in West Africa in 2014, when the virus killed more than 11,000 people. It is Congo’s 10th epidemic since 1976, and second this year. </s> Health ministry confirms deaths from virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

At least 17 people have died in the north-west of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where health officials have confirmed an outbreak of Ebola, the health ministry has said.

It is the ninth time Ebola has been recorded in the DRC, whose eastern Ebola river gave the deadly virus its name when it was discovered there in the 1970s, and the outbreak comes less than a year after one that killed eight people.

The health ministry said: “Our country is facing another epidemic of the Ebola virus, which constitutes an international public health emergency.

“We still dispose of the well-trained human resources that were able to rapidly control previous epidemics.”

Ebola outbreaks from 1976 to now – interactive map Read more

Ebola is believed to be spread over long distances by bats, which can host the virus without dying, as they infect other animals with which they share trees, such as monkeys. Ebola often spreads to humans via infected bushmeat.

Before the outbreak was confirmed, local health officials reported 21 patients showing signs of hemorrhagic fever around the village of Ikoko Impenge, near the town of Bikoro. Seventeen of those later died.

Medical teams supported by the World Health Organization and Médecins Sans Frontières were dispatched to the zone on Saturday and took five samples from suspected active cases.

Two of the samples tested positive for the Zaire strain of the Ebola virus, the ministry said.

After DRC’s previous Ebola flare-up, authorities approved the use of a new experimental vaccine, but in the end did not deploy it owing to logistical challenges and the relatively minor nature of the outbreak.

The worst Ebola epidemic ended in West Africa two years ago after killing more than 11,300 people and infecting about 28,600 across Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

Despite regular outbreaks every few years, death tolls in the DRC have been significantly lower. </s> The Democratic Republic of Congo's Ebola outbreak has spread to a provincial capital, prompting the World Health Organization (WHO) to call an emergency meeting.

The outbreak was announced last week in the remote rural area of Bikoro. So far 45 cases have been reported and 25 people are known to have died.

But cases have also been confirmed in Mbandaka, about 150km away, which is home to almost 1.2 million people.

The city lies on the Congo River, a busy transport corridor to the capital Kinshasa, where more than 10 million people live. </s> Image copyright EPA Image caption Nearly 1,400 people have died in a recent outbreak in DR Congo

The head of a major medical research charity has called the latest outbreak of Ebola in central Africa "truly frightening".

Nearly 1,400 people have died in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Dr Jeremy Farrar, the director of the Wellcome Trust, said the epidemic was the worst since that of 2013-16 and has showed "no sign of stopping".

Two people have also died in neighbouring Uganda, the first cases of Ebola reported in the country.

A five-year-old boy infected with the virus died on Tuesday and his 50-year-old grandmother died on Wednesday, the Ugandan health ministry said.

The Ugandan government has reported at least six other suspected cases of the virus.

In a statement, Dr Farrar said the spread was "tragic but unfortunately not surprising". He warned that more cases were expected, and a "full" national and international response would be needed to protect lives.

"The DRC should not have to face this alone," he said.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Treating Ebola in the DR Congo warzone

What's the situation so far?

Since the first case of Ebola in DR Congo last August, nearly 1,400 people have died - around 70% of all those infected.

The outbreak is the second-largest in the history of the disease, with a significant spike in new cases in recent weeks.

Only once before has an outbreak continued to grow more than eight months after it began - that was the epidemic in West Africa between 2013-16, which killed 11,310 people.

Efforts to contain the spread have been hindered by militia group violence and by suspicion towards foreign medical assistance.

Nearly 200 health facilities have been attacked in DR Congo this year, forcing health workers to suspend or delay vaccinations and treatments. In February, medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) put its activities on hold in Butembo and Katwa - two eastern cities in the outbreak's epicentre.

In Uganda, a five-year-old boy died of the virus on Tuesday, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Officials said his grandmother and younger brother also had the disease. The boy is said to have travelled across the border with his family from DR Congo on Sunday. He was then taken to a Ugandan hospital after exhibiting symptoms, including vomiting blood, officials said.

Seven other cases have been confirmed in the country, and Uganda's government said 50 people were suspected to have come into contact with those infected.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is already the second deadliest in history

Emergency measures

Analysis by James Gallagher, Health and Science Correspondent, BBC News

Cases of Ebola appearing in another country are always a significant and worrying development. The key question now is how far has the virus spread in Uganda?

Has it been contained to just the family that crossed the border from DR Congo or has it spread more widely? This is a moment that Uganda has long prepared for and, hopefully, measures such as pre-emptively vaccinating healthcare workers will lower the risk of Ebola spreading.

This outbreak is already the second largest in human history and some have predicted it could take up to two more years to bring to an end. The WHO has twice ruled that this Ebola outbreak is not a yet global emergency. Its Emergency Committee will meet again on Friday.

What is being done to prevent the spread?

In Uganda, mass gatherings including market days and prayers have been cancelled. Market days in the town of Kasese attract an estimated 20,000 people at the border area.

Uganda's health ministry and the WHO said a rapid response team had been dispatched to identify others at risk.

The country has already vaccinated about 4,700 health workers against the disease, according to a joint statement by WHO and Ugandan health officials.

On Wednesday, WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that he would hold an IHR Emergency Committee meeting on 14 June. The group will decide if the outbreak should now be deemed a public health emergency.

What is Ebola?
A new outbreak of the Ebola virus disease kills at least 17 people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.