An Ebola epidemic has been declared in the Democratic Republic of Congo after three people died in the country.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), one of the three deaths have been definitely confirmed to be a case of the deadly haemorrhaging fever.

This latest ‘outbreak’ comes three years after the last outbreak of the disease, which was the deadliest in history, killing over 11,000 people, mostly in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea – but also hitting Nigeria, the DRC, the United States and other countries.

A statement from DRC’s health ministry confirmed the new outbreak.

“Our country must confront an outbreak of the Ebola virus that constitutes a public health crisis of international significance.”

WHO and authorities in the country are now working on containing this new challenge.