Ebola in DR Congo: River boat under quarantine after five deaths - BBC News

The health minister says all the passengers are being screened as a precautionary measure.

Image source, ReutersImage caption, The Yingfeng 2 was intercepted on the Congo River before it could reach Kinshasa

Congolese authorities are carrying out Ebola and cholera screening for all 255 passengers aboard a boat intercepted on the Congo River.

The Yingfeng 2 - operated by a Chinese company - was halted near Bende Bende port, some 65km (40 miles) upstream from the capital, Kinshasa.

Health Minister Roger Kamba said screening was being carried out as a precautionary measure after a passenger with fever and diarrhoea, who had got off at an earlier stop, had died in hospital. A further two adults, a three-year-old child and a newborn have also died.

Teams from the health ministry and the World Health Organization (WHO) have boarded the boat and set up a mobile lab to conduct tests.