WHO declares Ebola epidemic in Democratic Republic of Congo
The World Health Organisation has declared an Ebola epidemic in the DRC after the killer virus caused several fatalities. This follows the catastrophic outbreak of the disease that hit west Africa from 2014 to 2015 killing thousands. Ebola is an RNA virus, like HIV and influenza, and therefore has a high rate of mutation. There are 12 vaccines under development that may counter the Ebola virus, however none of them has undergone large-scale testing.The WHO believes that this outbreak may be an opportunity to test at least one of the vaccines.
The Democratic Republic of Congo is dealing with a new Ebola outbreak.

News of the outbreak traveled slowly since it's in a remote region of the country. So far there are 11 suspected cases, including three deaths. One case has been confirmed.

Ebola spreads from person to person via direct contact with body fluids or with other mammals that are also infected — such as bats, monkeys and apes. The disease has a mortality rate around 50 percent.

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The World Health Organization says it's working with local authorities to best combat the spread of the virus.

There are 12 vaccines in development that might work against the Ebola virus, but none of them have had large-scale testing. WHO thinks this outbreak might be a good chance to test at least one of them.

The last Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo killed 49 people in 2014.