Health officials in Congo have confirmed the first case of Ebola in the city of Goma, which is home to more than 2 million people, the Associated Press reported.
The infected person with a confirmed case of the disease is a pastor who was in the northern part of the country in Butembo and arrived in the city Sunday, according to the Guardian. He traveled by bus more than 100 miles, and the 18 other passengers will be vaccinated on Monday, according to the BBC.
"Due to the speed with which the patient has been identified and isolated, as well as the identification of all passengers from Butembo, the risk of spreading to the rest of the city of Goma remains low,” the health officials said in a statement, the Guardian reported.
The case marks the latest in the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the country. More than 1,600 people have died in eastern Congo as the virus has spread to areas that have been deemed too dangerous for health officials to access. The outbreak, which started last August, is the second deadliest in history, according to the AP.
The new case also worried health officials because Goma border Rwanda, which has been bracing for an outbreak, according to the Guardian. Two others have already died after carrying the virus to the neighboring country of Uganda.
