An Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda is so far thought to have resulted in 513 cases and 131 deaths, the DRC Health Ministry said on Tuesday.
Further investigations and laboratory tests would be needed to confirm that all the deaths and cases were indeed due to Ebola, Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba said on DRC state television.
The risk of the outbreak spreading across the region is considered high, especially as it involves the rare Bundibugyo variant of the virus, for which there is neither a vaccine nor a therapy.
The African health body Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) urged the international community to refrain from imposing travel restrictions for the time being.
Neighbouring Rwanda has already closed its border with the eastern DRC.
According to Africa CDC, the Ebola outbreak likely began in the third week of April in the north-eastern province of Ituri, which borders Uganda and South Sudan, but it was only reported in early May.
It is the 17th Ebola outbreak in the DRC since 1976.
According to Africa CDC, there have only been two previous outbreaks of the Bundibugyo variant.
Ebola is a contagious and life-threatening infectious disease. The virus is transmitted through physical contact and contact with bodily fluids.
In 2014 and 2015, more than 11,000 people died in an outbreak of the Zaire variant in West Africa.
