GOMA, the Democratic Republic of Congo, July 14 (Xinhua) -- The first Ebola case in Goma, an eastern city of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was confirmed on Sunday, said the central African nation's health ministry.

A pastor who interacted with Ebola patients in the northeastern town of Butembo became ill last week, and traveled to Goma by bus on Sunday, where he later tested positive for Ebola, the ministry said in a statement.

The man was then transported to a treatment center. The ministry said the risk of the virus spreading in the city remains low.

The World Health Organization has recently expressed concern that the spread of Ebola in the DRC has escalated in the past few months, with more than 2,000 cases recorded since the epidemic broke out again about a year ago.

As the virus spread to neighboring Uganda last month, other neighboring countries such as Zambia and Tanzania have intensified surveillance at borders in the wake of increased Ebola cases in the DRC.

Ebola spreads among humans through close contact with blood, body fluids, secretions or organs of an infected person.

The current outbreak is the worst on record after the Ebola epidemic struck mainly Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone between 2014 and 2016, leaving more than 11,300 people dead. Enditem

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