BENI (DR Congo), Aug 17 — Seventy-eight cases of Ebola have been recorded in an outbreak in northeast Democratic Republic of Congo, claiming 44 lives, DRC officials and the World Health Organization (WHO) said today.

The latest outbreak of the viral disease, which is highly contagious and frequently fatal if untreated, has prompted a visit by the head of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the health ministry said in a statement.

"In all, 78 cases of haemorrhagic fever have been reported in the region, of which 51 are confirmed and 27 probable” while "24 suspect cases are under investigation”, according to reports from Congolese authorities and the WHO.

Confirmed cases are verified by way of laboratory tests on samples taken from patients. The cases treated as "probable” often concern diseased people who had a close epidemiological link with confirmed cases, but have not been tested.

Congolese authorities reported "two deaths of confirmed cases at Beni” — a trading town with a population approaching a quarter of a million people in North Kivu province. — AFP