DR Congo confirms 6 Ebola cases

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)'s Health Minister Felix Kabange Numbi told Xinhua on Wednesday that six cases of the Ebola virus that has plagued the province of Ecuador were confirmed by laboratory tests.

"Statistics updated the field: the total number of cases reported since the beginning is 42, and six cases confirmed by laboratory, 13 probable and 23 suspect cases," said Kabange.

"The number of deaths is still 13 which five health workers. Eleven people are in isolation, six new samples were done outside of the Eight already analyzed. 168 contacts are identified and monitored," said the minister.

According to the minutes of a cabinet meeting chaired Tuesday by President Joseph Kabila, "the president also instructed the government to mobilize the budgetary resources and Avail provided against the response to this epidemic."

Kabila has urged the government to make available to scientists and researchers the Congolese substantial resources to accelerate the development of a vaccine against this disease.