Another person died of Ebola in the north-western Congo, raising the number of victims to 10, health officials announced on Friday.
The latest victim died on Thursday in Etoumbi district after being in contact with her husband, who succumbed to the haemorrhagic fever on May 11, the World Health Organisation office said in a statement on Friday.
The statement warned that relatives, who have refused to go to hospital after being in contact with the victims, will become infected and develop the disease in a few days.
”The epidemic can spread and last a few weeks or even months,” the statement said.
The two Cuvette West districts — Etoumbi, where nine deaths occurred, and Mbomo, where a ninth person has died — were sealed off last week.
Government officials have said they are having difficulty enforcing the quarantine in the area, where many can easily slip out and disappear into the deep forest where the districts are located.
Ebola is transmitted through direct contact with body fluids of infected persons or primates. There is no cure, and between 50% and 90% of victims die.
Last year, 120 people died of Ebola in the same Cuvette region, bordering Gabon.
Ebola generally kills rapidly and has so far only afflicted remote regions of Africa. The disease often burns out before spreading far. — Sapa-AP