KINSHASA, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- The tenth death of a confirmed Ebola case was recorded Thursday in North Kivu province in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the country's health ministry reported.
Health Minister Oly Ilunga told Xinhua that with the tenth Ebola outbreak declared, the virus has become endemic in the equatorial forested areas of the country.
The epidemic, declared to have ended in DRC last month by the World Health Organization (WHO), made a comeback with a fresh case confirmed in the city of Beni on Aug. 1.
The 10 confirmed Ebola cases were among the total recorded 37 deaths from hemorrhagic fever in the DRC, according to the on-site health team.
Besides, 17 cases out of another 44 under treatment with this fever have been confirmed Ebola. There are 54 suspected and 27 probable cases yet to be tested, the team said.
Local authorities have deployed 3,220 doses of vaccines from the capital to the central repository in response to a vaccination campaign primarily launched by first responders in fighting Ebola.
Despite challenges to eliminate the virus, Ilunga expressed confidence in the timely and effective response of the local medical team.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and his deputy in charge of emergency interventions, Peter Salama, arrived in Kinshasa Thursday for a joint evaluation with the Congolese health authorities.
