Ebola cases in DR Congo rise to 78, 44 dead

Medical workers disinfect a coffin of a deceased unconfirmed Ebola patient at the Ebola Treatment Centre in Beni on August 13, 2018. PHOTO | AFP

Seventy-eight cases of Ebola have been recorded in an outbreak in northeast Democratic Republic of Congo, claiming 44 lives, DRC officials and the World Health Organisation (WHO) said Friday.

The latest outbreak of the viral disease, which is highly contagious and frequently fatal if untreated, has prompted a visit by the head of the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the health ministry said in a statement.