Ebola strikes again in Democratic Republic of Congo as wife of survivor dies of the virus

Health authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo are racing to contain a possible Ebola outbreak, after a woman died from the virus near the eastern city of Butembo.

The woman showed symptoms on 1 February in the town of Biena, North Kivu. She died in hospital in Butembo two days later. She was married to a man who had contracted the virus in a previous outbreak.

“It was a farmer, the wife of a survivor of Ebola, who showed typical signs of the disease on February 1,” health minister Eteni Longondo told state television RTNC.

The virus can live in the semen of male survivors for more than three years, according to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine.

“The provincial response team is already hard at work. It will be supported by the national response team which will visit Butembo shortly,” the health ministry statement said.