A new case of Ebola has been confirmed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s eastern province of North Kivu, prompting health authorities to declare a resurgence of the deadly virus, World Health Organization (WHO) officials said on Tuesday.

WHO announced that health authorities confirmed a 46-year-old woman died of the disease on 15 August in Beni, a town located in North Kivu.

She initially received care for other ailments at the Beni Referral Hospital, who said, but the began exhibiting symptoms consistent with Ebola.

A statement from WHO said both the Beni and Goma branches of the DRC’s National Institute of Biomedical Research (INRB) confirmed Ebola virus in samples taken from the patient.

Further analysis showed her death was genetically linked to the 2018-2020 outbreak in North Kivu and Ituri provinces that was the country’s longest and largest.

Last week, WHO issued its first guidelines ever for Ebola treatment.

It advised using two monoclonal antibodies — mAb114 (Ansuvimab®, also known as Ebanga®) and REGN-EB3 (Inmazeb®) — that were first approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for use against the Zaire ebolavirus species in 2020.

WHO says its “strong recommendations” for the two monoclonal antibody treatments that were released on Friday are based on a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials examining potential therapeutics for the deadly disease.

The two therapies demonstrated “clear benefits and therefore can be used for all patients confirmed positive for Ebola virus disease,” WHO says.

That includes older people, pregnant and breastfeeding women, children and newborns born to mothers with confirmed Ebola within the first seven days after birth.

Battling ‘Greater Frequency’ of Resurgent Ebola Cases

This latest resurgence comes just four months after the Ebola outbreak that erupted on 23 April in DRC was declared to be over  by DRC and WHO authorities, with fewer cases and deaths than previous episodes due to a swift response including vaccinations.

The last time the disease flared up in Beni it was brought under control in about two months and ended in mid-December 2021, after causing six deaths among eight confirmed and three probable cases.

“Ebola resurgences are occurring with greater frequency in the Democratic Republic of the Congo which is concerning,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa.

“However, health authorities in North Kivu have successfully stopped several Ebola flareups and, building on this expertise, will no doubt bring this one under control quickly,” Moeti said.

Some 160 people have been identified as contacts and their health is being closely monitored by WHO staff and DRC health authorities, WHO said, and it has not yet been determined whether the woman who died was vaccinated.

The nation has 1,000 doses of the rVSV-ZEBOV Ebola vaccine in its stockpile, including 200 that are being shipped to Beni this week.

Ebola, which is spread by contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person or contaminated materials, produces early symptoms of fever and muscle aches like malaria.

WHO’s “ring vaccination” strategy — vaccinating people who came into contact with patients — is expected to begin shortly after having shown some effectiveness at preventing new cases and limiting the spread of the disease in the DRC.

WHO has been supporting DRC’s government to scale up testing, contact tracing and public health measures.

Stockpiles of Ebola vaccines from the cities of Goma and Kinshasa were transported to Mbandaka earlier this year so vaccinations could start.

A targeted Ebola vaccination campaign aimed at tracing and immunizing contacts was underway in Mbandaka, a city in DR Congo’s north-western Equateur Province.

Image Credits: WHO.