DR Congo says 1,307 Ebola cases confirmed, including 377 deaths

Outbreak spreads to a fourth province, Haut-Uele, bordering South Sudan and the CAR, according to a media report.⁠The Democratic Republic ⁠of the Congo (DRC) says confirmed ‌Ebola cases in the country have reached 1,307 and include ⁠377 deaths.In an update issued late on Monday, the country said the confirmed cases ⁠have been ⁠recorded ⁠in three provinces – Ituri, ‌North Kivu and ‌South ‌Kivu.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Sudan says China has waived $50m loan: What’s in it for Khartoum, Beijing?list 2 of 3Sixty-six years on: The promise of DRC independence remains unfulfilledlist 3 of 3Migrants in South Africa fear violence ahead of June 30 deadlineend of listThe announcement comes as the AFP news agency reported that a case has been detected in a fourth province. A source at the DRC’s National Institute of Biomedical Research (INRB) quoted by AFP said the viral haemorrhagic fever has spread to Haut-Uele, which borders South Sudan and the Central African Republic.The source said the case there was detected after an infected person travelled from Bunia, Ituri’s capital, to Haut-Uele.That person has since died, another health source told AFP.Authorities are now trying to trace the chain of transmission and identify contacts.Its spread to Haut-Uele means the DRC’s entire northeast, home to about 15 million people, is now affected.The conflict-hit province of Ituri is the epicentre of the country’s latest Ebola outbreak, its 17th, which started in May.In many cases, the virus has spread at funerals, where the highly infectious bodies of Ebola victims are handled.For weeks, aid workers, facing mistrust among local communities, have struggled to plan safe burials in affected areas to prevent contact with the dead.In the DRC, funerals often last several days, during which family members and friends touch the body of the deceased.Reporting from a treatment centre in Rwampara in Ituri province, Al Jazeera’s Catherine Wambua-Soi said health workers often lack sufficient equipment.