Kinshasa, June 19 (AHN) The number of confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has risen to 896, including 232 deaths, the country's public health authorities said.

Twenty-one new confirmed cases, including six deaths, were reported Wednesday in the eastern provinces of Ituri and North Kivu, the health ministry said in its daily update. The outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo ebolavirus, has affected 33 health zones across three eastern provinces --Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu.

Health authorities said 383 patients were either in isolation or hospitalized, while 78 patients had recovered, including 11 newly declared recoveries following negative control tests.

A total of 151 suspected cases, including 35 deaths, were also reported on Wednesday. Authorities said 6,367 contacts were under follow-up across the three provinces, of whom 4,525 were reached during the reporting period, representing a follow-up rate of 71.1 per cent.

The report said the number of confirmed cases continued to rise week by week, indicating ongoing community transmission. It also warned that rapid geographic spread remained possible if public health measures were not implemented swiftly.

The current outbreak, the DRC's 17th Ebola outbreak, was officially declared on May 15, Xinhua news agency reported.

Ebola disease first occurred in 1976 in two simultaneous outbreaks: one outbreak was of Sudan virus disease in Nzara in what is now South Sudan, and the other outbreak was of Ebola virus disease in Yambuku, in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The latter occurred in a village near the Ebola River, from which the disease takes its name.

The symptoms of Ebola disease can be sudden and include fever, fatigue, malaise, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. These are followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal pain rash, and symptoms of impaired kidney and liver functions. It is important for health and care workers to be on the lookout for these symptoms.