8 more cases of Ebola in Congo

The World Health Organization says eight more cases of Ebola have been identified in Congo, raising thenumber of people confirmed to have contracted the deadly illness to 17.

Fadela Chaib, a WHO official,says the cases were confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

The outbreak in Congo is the first major resurgence of Ebola in years.

Chaib says at least 170 people have died, though it is not clear how many of Ebola, in the affected region of Kasai Occidental over the past four months.

More than 400 have fallen ill.

Ebola usually kills up to 90 per cent of those infected through massive blood loss, and has no cure or treatment. It is spread through direct contact with the blood or secretions of an infected person, or objects that have been contaminated with infected secretions.

Congo's last major Ebola outbreak struck in Kikwit in 1995, killing 245 people.

More than1,000 people have died of Ebola since the virus was first identified in 1976 in Sudan and Congo.