Ebola outbreak kills 11 in Congo

Eleven people have died in Congo due to an outbreak of the Ebola virus, the country's health minister said on Tuesday.

The epidemic began in late November and has infected at least 35 people in Kaluemba in the Western Kasai province, said Health Minister August Mopipi.

Cases of the disease have also been identified in neighbouring villages, Mopipi said.

Laboratory tests conducted in Gabon and Congo's National Institute for Biomedical Research has confirmed that there were 11 deaths, he said.Meanwhile, the World Health Organization has confirmed two cases of Ebola in the country. But the disease may still have spread, the organization said.

Villagers in the region have been reporting diarrhea and vomiting of blood, said Olivier Chenebon, who works with Doctors Without Borders.

Chenebon said the charity group is currently monitoring 102 people who have been in contact with people who had contracted Ebola.

They too could contract the disease and pass it to others, Chenebon said.

Ebola is spread through direct contact with blood or secretions. It can lie dormant for several weeks before flu-like symptoms appear and it begins attacking internal organs.

The disease causes bloody diarrhea and vomiting and can ultimately result in death from massive blood loss. It kills up to 90 per cent of the people it infects.

Ebola killed 187 people in western Congo last year.