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The current outbreak in the DRC — tenth in the country's history — has already caused 1,813 deaths.
The Rwandan government decided to temporarily close its land borders with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Thursday, following the detection of Ebola cases in the Congolese town of Goma.
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"Yes, the border has been closed," said Olivier Nduhungirehe, Rwandan Foreign Affairs Manager for the East African Community.
The announcement coincides with the confirmation of a new case in Goma. It's the third reported by the national coordinator of the response against Ebola from DRC, Aruna Abedi, according to Congolese local media.
The details of this third patient have not yet been released, but the announcement comes just shortly after Ebola outbreak was confirmed by officials which is uncontrollable in the northeast region.
Also, in the city of Goma and its surroundings, 12 suspicious cases are waiting to be confirmed, according to the data from the Congolese Government as of July 30.
The first case in Goma was confirmed in mid-July with an infected evangelist pastor who had traveled to the city by bus and died shortly after being transferred to a treatment center.
In the second case, an adult man who had traveled from the Ituri mining area died Wednesday.
Dr. Dede Ndungi Ndungi, a health officer at one of the Goma borders, told EFE that since Wednesday morning, Rwanda is not allowing passengers or goods to pass through either of the city's two border crossings.
"Rwanda is afraid of Ebola," he said adding that his part of the border is still open and that no suspicious case has tried to enter Rwanda.
As of a 2018 report from the International Organization of Migration (IOM), at least 25,000 people cross the Goma borders daily, although other reports estimate over 55,000.
The current outbreak in the DRC — tenth in the country's history — has already caused 1,813 deaths among the 2,701 cases. It has become the second most serious epidemic in the world, only surpassed by the one that crossed West Africa in 2014, with more than 11,000 fatalities.
The outbreak is located in the provinces of North Kivu and Ituri, bordering with South Sudan, Uganda, and Rwanda.
Ebola virus is transmitted through direct contact with contaminated blood and body fluids, causes hemorrhagic fever and can reach a mortality rate of 90 percent if not treated in time.
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