CONGO: Officials fear Ebola epidemic may last 2-3 years

A gold miner and his wife have tested positive to the dreaded Ebola virus in the city Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo, heightening fears that the country may live with the epidemic loner than expected.

The development brings the number of confirmed cases in the city to four, with reports suggesting the gold miner who has a large family may have contaminated several people amid fears the epidemic could last two to three years in the country.

“The gold miner … will have contaminated several people, but for the moment it is only his wife and one of his 10 children who are sick,” the government’s Ebola response coordinator Jean-Jacques Muyembe said on Friday.

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The latest development comes after neighbouring Rwanda moved to close its borders with the DRC over fears that the virus may spread to its territory.

The move comes after the death of the second person diagnosed with Ebola in the city of Goma which borders Rwanda.

United Nations health workers have also called for concerted efforts to ensure the virus which has so far killed more than 1,800 people, including three in Uganda does not spread further.

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