The Ebola epidemic in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo has now spread to a sixth province in the country. Concerns are growing that the life-threatening infectious disease could reach the capital, Kinshasa, which is home to 19 million people.
Facilities for isolating patients are ready for the event that a public health alert should hit the capital, said Jean-Jacques Muyembe, head of Congo's National Institute for Biomedical Research (INRB).
"If there is a suspected case, the epidemiological services and the INRB laboratory are ready to quickly identify and confirm cases," he told DW.
"The Ministry of Health has set up the Cinquantenaire Hospital so that it can admit and fully isolate patients if necessary. We are prepared. We can quickly contain an Ebola outbreak here in Kinshasa."
The peak of the Ebola outbreak is expected to arrive in about six monthsImage: Badru Katumba/AFP
