DRC: 1st Ebola Case Confirmed in Goma

The health ministry of the Democratic Republic of Congo confirmed the first case of Ebola in the city of Goma on Sunday, 14 July.

A pastor from the city of more than two million – which is right next to the neighbouring Rwandan city of Gisenyi – tested positive for the virus, and authorities were swift in tracking down the rest of the passengers who shared the bus he travelled on for 200 kilometres from Butembo to Goma.

The health ministry released a statement, which reads: “Because of the speed with which the patient was identified and isolated, and the identification of all the other bus passengers coming from Butembo, the risk of it spreading in the rest of the city of Goma is small.”

The case marks nearly a year since the Ebola epidemic in the region first began last August.

Ebola has killed over 1 600 people in central Africa – specifically DRC and Uganda – and experts fear that lack of understanding of the virus could potentially lead to more, and deadlier, future outbreaks in the region.

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