New Ebola outbreak kills 17 in Democratic Republic of Congo - local health officials

Health officials in the northwestern Democratic Republic of Congo have confirmed a new outbreak of Ebola in the country on Tuesday. So far, a total of 17 deaths have been confirmed after 21 patients initially showed symptoms of hemorrhagic fever. It is the ninth such outbreak in the country whose eastern Ebola river gave the virus its name. Medical teams from the World Health Organization and Doctors Without Borders took five samples from suspected active cases, two of which returned positive for the Zaire strain of the Ebola virus. Congolese authorities approved the use of an experimental new vaccine but did not deploy it during last year’s outbreak that killed four people.