The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Democratic Republic of Congo government said Thursday that health officials in the country are investigating a possible Ebola outbreak in a village. Spokesperson for the WHO in Congo Eugene Kabambi said that the suspected Ebola outbreak was in the village of Masambio in Bandundu province, more than 400 kilometers northeast of the capital Kinshasa. Congo has seen periodic outbreaks of the disease. A three-month outbreak that killed 49 people late last year in the remote forests of northwestern Congo was not related to the West Africa epidemic that has killed 11,200 people since last year. "What we know is just suspicion ... For the time being, epidemiologists are on the ground collecting samples to send to the lab," Kabambi said. Kabambi said that he did not know how many suspected cases there were or when they were first reported. He said that Congo's health minister called an emergency meeting on the suspected outbreak Thursday.
