The Democratic Republic of Congo has confirmed a new case of Ebola in the eastern province of North Kivu , the country’s health ministry said, just weeks after the end of a previous epidemic.

Early last month, Congo declared its latest Ebola outbreak over after five deaths, more than two months after the virus re-emerged in a different part of the country.

Last week, however, the World Health Organization said DR Congo was investigating a suspected case.

The sample from a 46-year-old woman who died on August 15 in Beni city, North Kivu province, “tested positive” for Ebola, DR Congo’s health ministry said in a statement published late Monday.

It added that tests showed the case is linked to a previous outbreak in North Kivu and Ituri Provinces from 2018 and was not a new variant.

The ministry sought to reassure the public that officials were “hard at work on the ground” to respond to the situation. WHO staff and health authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo working to stem the spread of the disease, having identified 160 contacts whose health is being closely monitored. Investigations are ongoing to determine the vaccination status of the confirmed case.

Ebola is an often fatal viral haemorrhagic fever. The disease was named after a river in Zaire, as the country was known when it was discovered.

Human transmission is through body fluids, with the main symptoms being fever, vomiting, bleeding and diarrhoea.