The World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed that 31 people have died in the Democratic Republic of Congo amid the country’s first Ebola outbreak in three years.

Speaking in Geneva on Thursday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there are 48 confirmed and probable cases reported since the outbreak was declared earlier this month near the central town of Bulape.

“So far, we’ve helped to set up an Ebola treatment centre with 18 beds, with 16 patients currently being treated,” Tedros told reporters. He added that vaccination campaigns are underway for contacts, possible contacts, and frontline workers.

According to him, courses of the monoclonal antibody therapy Mab114 have also been sent to treatment centres, with 14 patients already receiving the drug. More than 900 contacts have been identified, and health workers are monitoring them. On Tuesday, the first two patients to recover were discharged.

The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last week that the disease, initially confined to two districts, has now spread to four.

WHO said it has delivered more than 14 tons of essential medical supplies and deployed 48 experts to support Congo’s response.

Ebola, a viral haemorrhagic fever first detected in Africa in the 1970s, is harboured mainly by wild animals such as fruit bats. Symptoms include fever, diarrhoea, body aches, and impaired organ function. The virus can persist in survivors’ bodies and re-emerge years later.

West Africa recorded the deadliest outbreak on record between 2014 and 2016, when more than 11,000 people died.