Alghadeer TV Alghadeer TV
Rwanda has closed part of its border with DR Congo, where an Ebola outbreak has killed more than 1,800 people in the past year.
At least two people have died from the virus in the past month in the crowded Congolese border city of Goma.
It is the worst Ebola outbreak in the nation’s history, with at least 2,700 people so far infected with the virus.
And the outbreak has been complicated by an active conflict zone, leading to attacks on healthcare workers.
About 12 new cases are being reported every day in DR Congo, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports.
The WHO previously warned against trying to contain the virus by restricting travel or trade.
Last week, it designated the outbreak a global health emergency. It is the highest level of alarm the organization can sound and has only been used four times previously – including during the Ebola epidemic that killed more than 11,000 people in West Africa between 2014 and 2016.
Rwandans who cross the border for work have also voiced their concerns.
Ebola is affecting two provinces of DR Congo – North Kivu and Ituri. Goma, home to two million people, is the capital of North Kivu and lies just across the border from the Rwandan city of Gisenyi.
Until now, the virus has been mostly confined to more remote areas, mostly around Beni and Butembo, to the north of Goma.
Ebola is a virus that initially causes sudden fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, and a sore throat.
It progresses to vomiting, diarrhea and both internal and external bleeding.
People are infected when they have direct contact through broken skin, or the mouth and nose, with the blood, vomit, feces or bodily fluids of someone with Ebola.
Patients tend to die from dehydration and multiple organ failure.
