Congo traces possible Ebola spread to two new provinces, sources say

DAKAR, June 30 (Reuters) – Congolese health authorities are tracking people potentially exposed to Ebola in two provinces previously unaffected by the latest outbreak, out of fear the virus could spread further, a health ministry report and a senior health official said.

The outbreak, declared on May 15, has so far infected 1,307 people and killed 377 in the eastern provinces of Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu, according to data released by the government on Monday.

⁠Health workers in Tshopo province are tracking people who may have been exposed to the body of a pregnant woman who died of Ebola in the Niania health zone of Ituri, according to a June 29 health ministry report reviewed by Reuters.

The report stated that the woman fell ill on June 18 and died on June 27. His body was transported by motorcycle about 300 km west to the city of Kisangani in neighboring Tshopo province; The sample taken at the morgue here tested positive for Ebola.

The report stated that passing through various health areas of the body before diagnosis poses a high risk of transmission. Authorities launched contact tracing efforts across the state.

Separately, a senior health official, who asked to remain anonymous because he was not allowed to brief the media, told Reuters that two people identified as contacts of Ebola cases in Niania and who had been placed in isolation for testing had fled to Haut-Uele province.

Like Tshopo, Haut-Uele neighbors Ituri. ‌It also shares borders with South Sudan and the Central African Republic.

One of the two people tested positive for Ebola, while the second is awaiting confirmatory testing, the official said. Both have since been located and returned to Niania, the official said, adding that medical teams are tracking down the people they encountered in Haut-Uele.

(Reporting and writing by Clement Bonnerot; Editing by Jessica Donati and Daniel Wallis)