Story highlights Officials confirm one death from Ebola, suspect two others

Nine suspected cases reported in the northeastern part of the country

(CNN) An outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo that began April 22 has resulted in at least one death and possibly two others, according to the World Health Organization.

The Congo Ministry of Health notified the WHO on Tuesday of nine suspected cases of Ebola illness and three deaths in the Likati health district within the northeastern province of Bas-Uele, which shares a border with the Central African Republic.

On Thursday, the Ministry of Health informed the WHO that of five samples, one tested positive for the Zaire strain of the Ebola virus at the National Institute of Biomedical Research laboratory in Kinshasa, the capital.

Additional laboratory samples are being tested. Six people remain hospitalized.

Officials suspect that the two other deaths were also caused by the highly infectious virus, which spreads through contact with bodily fluids, according to WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier in Geneva.

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