New cases of the Ebola virus are now suspected in the West African nation of Guinea, according to the World Health Organization.

The latest report from Reuters, citing Guinean health authorities, put the death toll at three people among eight cases, noting these are the first cases of Ebola in Guinea since the world’s worst outbreak in 2013-2016.

Local reports also put the death toll at three, with a small cluster of cases emerging in the community of Gouécké in the country’s south.  Gouécké and nearby hub Nzérékoré are not far from the borders with Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire.

Health minister Rémy Lamah said at least one patient was taken to Conakry for treatment rather than kept in isolation, a cause for concern as officials wait for a second set of results to confirm the Ebola infections.

Lamah promised a more comprehensive statement when those tests, which are in progress, are available.

The early reports from Guinea come as officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo announced a third case of a reemerging Ebola virus outbreak in the country’s volatile east.

The World Health Organization said this case was confirmed in Katwa, just a few kilometers east of Butembo and the first new case reported there last week. These new cases have emerged since Congolese officials declared an end to Ebola in June, after an outbreak that claimed 2,300 lives, many of them in Katwa and Butembo.

Image: World Health Organization file