8 dead with Ebola-like symptoms in Congo

This is one nasty little fucker.

BRAZZAVILLE, Congo (Reuters) -- Republic of Congo officials said on Thursday eight people had died over the past two weeks with symptoms similar to those suffered by victims of the Ebola virus, raising fears of a new outbreak of the disease.

Health Minister Alphonse Gando said people should not panic but should avoid contact with suspected patients and dead bush animals, which are thought to transmit the virus to humans.

"Since April 27, the health district of Etoumbi, in the Cuvette-Ouest region, has recorded seven deaths and three patients with clinical symptoms that make the Ebola virus a strong suspect as the cause of the deaths and the illness," Gando said in a statement.

He said another person who left Etoumbi to go to Mbomo had also died after showing the same symptoms. Etoumbi and Mbomo are respectively 400 miles (640 kilometers) and 435 miles (700 kilometers) north of the capital Brazzaville.

There is no known cure for Ebola, which is passed on by infected body fluids and kills between 50 and 90 percent of victims, depending on the strain.

The disease damages blood vessels and can cause bleeding, diarrhea and shock. Its worst outbreak, in 1995, killed more than 250 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

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