KINSHASA, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- Three new cases of Ebola virus disease have been confirmed by health officials in the northeastern province of North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) five months after the end of a previous Ebola outbreak in the same province, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday.

As of Oct. 16, three new cases have been confirmed, including two deaths, in the Butsili Health Area of Beni Health Zone, bringing the total to five confirmed cases with three deaths, the WHO's office in DRC said Monday on its Twitter account.

Five cases have so far been confirmed by health officials, including three deaths, since the first confirmed case of a two-year-old boy who died on October 6. To date, only the Butsili Health Area remains affected.

About 100 people likely to have been exposed to the virus have been identified, DRC's Health Minister Jean-Jacques Mbungani said, without specifying whether the new cases were linked to the 2018-2020 Ebola outbreak.

DRC's Health Ministry had already declared on October 8 a "resurgence" of the Ebola virus in the region, without clarifying the resurgence of another Ebola outbreak in the region, five months after the end of the last outbreak in the same region.

In early May 2021, the DRC officially declared the end of the 12th Ebola outbreak in North Kivu province.

A total of 12 cases, including six deaths, have been reported since the last Ebola outbreak, which was declared on Feb. 7 and marked the country's 12th outbreak. The cases were genetically linked to the 2018-2020 outbreak that killed more than 2,200 people in eastern DRC, the second deadliest on record. Enditem

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