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According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the Democratic Republic of the Congo has recorded a second Ebola death in days following more than seven weeks without a new case.
The DRC had been set on Sunday to mark an end to the second-deadliest outbreak of the virus on record, until a case was confirmed on Friday in the eastern city of Beni.
Since August 2018, the outbreak has killed more than 2,200 people in an area of the country where violence by armed groups hobbled efforts to contain it.
According to Boubacar Diallo, deputy incident manager for the WHO’s Ebola response the latest victim was an 11-month-old girl. She was treated at the same health centre as the previous case, a 26-year-old electrician.
It is not yet clear how the electrician contracted Ebola. He had no known contacts with other Ebola patients and was not a survivor of the virus who could have relapsed.
Related: WHO Confirms New Ebola Case in the DRC
Flare-ups or one-off transmissions are common towards the end of Ebola outbreaks. A new case does not necessarily mean the virus will spread out of control again.
Ebola causes fever, bleeding, vomiting and diarrhoea and spreads among humans through bodily fluids. During this outbreak, it killed about two-thirds of those it infected.
The WHO has identified 215 people who came in contact with the electrician. This number includes 53 health workers at three facilities the man visited before he died. All but one of the health workers had already been vaccinated.
Two new vaccines have helped contain the Ebola virus. Although public mistrust and rebel attacks prevented health workers from reaching some hard-hit areas.
