The Democratic Republic of Congo said on Wednesday that suspected Ebola cases had been reported in a new province, highlighting the expansion of the ongoing outbreak as deaths hit 600. The outbreak, declared on May 15, has so far infected 1,759 people across the eastern provinces of Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu, according to the government’s latest situation report published Wednesday night.

Expansion of the Outbreak

But that case total does not include two cases in Kisangani, the capital of Tshopo province and one of Congo’s biggest cities, the situation report said. One of those cases is linked to the health zone of Niania in Ituri province, where the first cases were reported. The positive test results are in the process of being validated by confirmatory testing, after which they will be included in the official case total.

Response teams have in the meantime begun strengthening surveillance, contact tracing and other containment measures in Kisangani. The World Health Organization said this week that the outbreak had not yet stabilized and was still expanding as population movement fueled transmission.

Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.