Healthy baby born to mom who recovers from Ebola in DRC

KINSHASA - The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)'s Ministry of Health Thursday tweeted a photo of a four-day-old baby whose mother was found to have been infected with the Ebola virus in December and recovered from it.

In her smiling mother's arms in the posted picture, "Baby Sylvana" was born on Sunday at an Ebola treatment center in the city of Beni, one of the hardest-hit areas by Ebola virus in DRC.

Baby Sylvana is healthy and does not have Ebola, the health ministry said, adding that the baby is the first in this outbreak born to a mother who recovered from the virus.

The DRC's Health Ministry declared a new outbreak of Ebola virus in North Kivu province in August 2018, which is the 10th outbreak of this deadly infectious disease in the country since 1976.

As of the end of 2018, figures from the DRC Ministry of Health put the number of Ebola cases at 593, including 545 confirmed cases, and the death toll has reached 360.

According to the World Health Organization, Ebola is introduced into the human population through close contact with bodily fluids of infected animals and people.

The Ebola virus causes a range of symptoms including fever, vomiting, diarrhea, general discomfort or malaise and in many cases internal and external bleeding.