Ebola's eighth province borders a country with no confirmed cases yet
Authorities reported two cases and one death in Nord-Ubangi, a province bordering the Central African Republic. WHO's data through October 11 showed no sustained national decline as the outbreak spread across a widening area.
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by Sami Haddad
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Ebola has reached an eighth province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, authorities said on October 18, expanding an outbreak whose reported toll now exceeds 4,500 deaths.
The Health Ministry recorded two cases, including one death, in Nord-Ubangi, according to an Associated Press dispatch. Both cases were in the Wapinda health zone, which borders Bas-Uele, a province where infections had already been reported.
Authorities have recorded at least 9,400 cases since the outbreak was declared in mid-May, according to AP. Nord-Ubangi also borders the Central African Republic, which had no confirmed cases at the time of the announcement.
The expansion comes after transmission remained stubbornly high elsewhere. The World Health Organization's figures through October 11 showed 65 affected health zones across seven provinces, before the announcement from Nord-Ubangi.
WHO described the rate of new infections nationally as high and fluctuating, with "no sustained downward trajectory". Declines in some areas were being offset by persistent or renewed transmission in others.
That pattern makes the new province more than another entry in a running total. The outbreak is widening while established centres of transmission still account for most infections.
