Congo will open three Ebola treatment centres in the eastern Ituri province, and the World Health Organization is sending a team of experts to the country, following an outbreak of a rare type of the virus that has killed nearly 120 people.

An American doctor in Congo is among the newly confirmed cases of the virus with no approved vaccines or medicines, Congolese officials said yesterday, as details emerged about the government’s delayed response to the outbreak.

The WHO on Sunday declared the Ebola outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. As of yesterday, there were over 118 deaths and 300 suspected cases in Ituri and North Kivu provinces, and one death and one suspected case in neighbouring Uganda. Experts say the number of cases is likely to rise as health officials conduct more surveillance.