Deadly virus cases grow

THE World Health Organisation has identified two more suspected cases of the deadly ebola virus a day after declaring an outbreak in Congo.

The UN agency said there were now 11 suspected cases, including three reported deaths, in Likati in Congo’s northern Bas-Uele Province.

WHO said one death had tested positive for an ebola strain seen in the country before. The UN agency says the first case occurred on April 22 in a man living 1400km from the capital, Kinshasa.

WHO is working with the government to co-ordinate a response. Congo has had seven known ebola outbreaks in the past, including one in 2014 with several dozen cases. That outbreak was not connected to the massive epidemic in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone that left thousands dead.