A Chinese-operated river boat carrying 255 passengers has been quarantined near Kinshasa after officials intercepted it over fears of Ebola aboard, according to the BBC and US News.
The vessel, the Yingfeng 2, was stopped near Bende Bende port, roughly 65 kilometers upstream from the Democratic Republic of Congo's capital. The boat had traveled about 1,700 kilometers downstream from Kisangani, a journey that took roughly two weeks, before being intercepted by authorities.
Authorities moved to quarantine the boat after a passenger who had disembarked earlier in Mongala Province while feverish later died. Health officials said two more adults, a 3-year-old child, and a newborn have also died. Congo's Health Minister, Roger Kamba, said the screening of everyone aboard the boat is a precautionary measure while officials work to determine whether any of those aboard the vessel are infected with the virus.
Teams from the World Health Organization and the Congolese health ministry boarded the vessel with a mobile laboratory to test passengers and crew on site, rather than transporting hundreds of people to a fixed facility, according to the reports.
A 17th outbreak, and a rare strain
The interception comes as the Democratic Republic of Congo battles its 17th Ebola outbreak since May 15. The current outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo species of the virus, a rare strain that had not been detected anywhere in more than a decade before this outbreak emerged, complicating the response for health workers more accustomed to other strains.
Congo has recorded more Ebola outbreaks than any other country, giving its health system extensive experience containing the virus, including large campaigns involving vaccination, contact tracing and community engagement in past outbreaks. Rivers remain a key transportation route through much of the country's interior, and river traffic has previously been identified as a route through which the virus can spread between remote and densely populated areas, raising the stakes of intercepting the Yingfeng 2 before it reached Kinshasa, a city of millions.
Officials have not yet said how many of the passengers, if any, have tested positive, and the boat remained under quarantine as testing continued.