(BBC) The pastor who was the first person to be confirmed with Ebola in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo city of Goma, has died, an official told the BBC’s Gaius Kowene.
The man tested positive after arriving in the city by bus from Butembo, 300km (186 miles) to the north of Goma, on Sunday.
On Monday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said the case could be a “game-changer” given the city’s population of more than two million.
The mayor of Butembo, Sylvain Kanyamanda, told our reporter that the pastor was being transferred back to Butembo, for proper care in an Ebola treatment centre, when he died.
“We received a dead body,” he said.
Goma remains on high alert as the response team is trying to reach all those who were identified as having been in contact with the pastor.
At least six of them were vaccinated yesterday, according to a source from the Ebola response coordination team.
Goma is close to the Rwandan border, and officials there are also taking preventative measures.
There will now be a 21-day wait, the incubation period of the Ebola virus, to see if there are any new cases