Kinshasa — The deadly Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has now claimed 49 lives since the start of August, the government has said, and the World Health Organization (WHO) expects more cases. The gradually increasing death toll, with a further 2,000 people feared to have come into contact with the virus, adds to the woes of a country already facing violence, displacement and political uncertainty. First reported on August 1 in North Kivu province, the current outbreak has killed 49 of the 90 cases reported, according to the latest health ministry bulletin. It said of the 49 deaths from the haemorrhagic fever, 63 were confirmed and 27 were probable. Confirmed cases are verified through laboratory tests on samples taken from patients. The cases treated as "probable" often concern sick people with a close epidemiological link to confirmed cases but who have not been tested.
Most deaths, 39, were recorded in the agricultural village of Mangina, 30km south-wes...
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