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Ebola virus outbreak in Congo kills 31
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/14/ebola-virus-congo-kills-31
A tradition of washing and displaying corpses before funerals spreads the Ebola virus. Photograph: FREDERICK A. MURPY / CDC HANDOUT/EPA
A deadly outbreak of the Ebola virus has killed 31 people in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, more than doubling the death toll from a week ago, the UN health agency said.
There were 69 cases in all, including nine confirmed by a laboratory, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Friday. Five of the deaths had been confirmed by laboratory work.
The Ebola virus has no cure and is deadly in 40-90% of cases. The disease causes severe internal bleeding.
"The situation is serious," Fadela Chaib, a spokeswoman for the Geneva-based agency, told reporters.
