Story highlights Two cases were confirmed, prompting the outbreak declarationIn the past five weeks, there have been 21 suspected cases, including 17 deaths(CNN) The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo declared an outbreak of Ebola hemorrhagic fever, a rare and deadly disease, on Tuesday, the World Health Organization reported. The declaration came after laboratory results confirmed two cases of the disease in the province of Bikoro in the northwestern part of the country. Ebola virus disease, which most commonly affects people and nonhuman primates (monkeys, gorillas and chimpanzees), is caused by one of five Ebola viruses. In the past five weeks, there have been 21 suspected cases of viral hemorrhagic fever , including 17 deaths. "WHO will work closely with health authorities and partners to support the national response."

Source: CNN May 08, 2018 16:57 UTC