Ebola: Tension as second death confirmed in DR Congo

The Democratic Republic of Congo has confirmed the second case of Ebola in the eastern city of Goma, near the border with Rwanda.

According to the report, the artisanal miner from a mining area in northeastern Congo’s Ituri province tested positive on Tuesday and died on Wednesday morning.

In the first case in Goma earlier this month, a cleric tested positive and later died after arriving in Goma by bus from a rural area hardest hit by the outbreak.

Jean-Jacques Muyembe, a local Ebola response coordinator, told reporters that there was no apparent connection between the new case and the previous one.

More than 1,700 people have died since an outbreak in eastern DR Congo was declared almost a year ago, prompting the World Health Organization in July to declare a global emergency.

Authorities fear that the outbreak may spread from largely rural areas to Goma, a city of two million people and a major transportation hub.

Ebola is affecting two provinces of DR Congo – North Kivu and Ituri. Goma is the capital of North Kivu and lies just across the border from the Rwandan city of Gisenyi.

Until now, the virus has been mostly contained to more remote areas, mostly around Beni and Butembo, to the north of Goma.