The death toll from an outbreak of Ebola in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has risen to 75, the health ministry said Monday.
“In all, 111 cases of hemorrhagic fever have been reported in the area,” it said.
The ministry said it recorded 47 deaths among 83 confirmed cases plus another 28 likely due to Ebola, most of them occurring before the authorities declared an epidemic on August 1.
No new cases have been reported since Sunday when the death toll was given as 67.
The latest outbreak of Ebola is in North Kivu province where armed groups are active.
Earlier this week, the health ministry said four other experimental drugs had been approved for treating infected patients.
On Friday, the World Health Organization warned that signs the virus had spread to the city of Oicha in North Kivu could frustrate efforts to contain the virus.
While Oicha itself is not under rebel control, WHO emergency response chief Peter Salama said the city was entirely surrounded by territory held by a feared Ugandan insurgent group known as the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF).
Large numbers of civilians have been killed in unrest around Oicha, while aid workers, priests and government employers are currently being held hostage there by insurgents.
On Friday, army troops came under attack in Beni, at the heart of the Ebola-affected region, military and civil sources said. The assault was blamed on ADF rebels.
No official toll were provided but locals contacted by AFP on Saturday spoke of around 10 soldiers killed.
The current Ebola outbreak is the 10th to strike the DRC since 1976, when the disease was first identified and named after a river in the north of the country.
