The latest Ebola outbreak in the DRC has reached Goma, a rebel-held city of more than one million people on the Rwandan border, prompting Rwanda to close key border crossings on Sunday, as the WHO declared the outbreak in the DRC and Uganda an international public health emergency.

GOMA, DR Congo, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The latest Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has reached Goma, a rebel-held city of more than one million people on the Rwandan border, prompting Rwanda to close key border crossings on Sunday, as the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak in the DRC and Uganda an international public health emergency.

Cross-border traffic between Goma, the capital of North Kivu province in eastern DRC, and Rwanda's Rubavu-Gisenyi area was suspended Sunday morning at border posts, Xinhua correspondents observed. The closure paralyzed exchanges across one of the busiest crossings between the two countries.

Prosper Mulindwa, mayor of Rubavu District in Rwanda's Western Province, told local media that the closure of the borders would remain in place for an indefinite period as part of measures aimed at preventing the spread of Ebola.

"The borders connecting Goma and Gisenyi have been temporarily closed in response to the Ebola outbreak. We will continue engaging with our residents to explain why this decision was made," Mulindwa said.

At this stage, only Congolese and Rwandan nationals returning to their respective countries are allowed to cross, while other movements remain suspended pending further guidance, according to a diplomatic source.

However, the WHO said on Sunday in a statement that no country should close its borders or place any restrictions on travel and trade.

EBOLA REACHES GOMA

A laboratory has confirmed an Ebola case in Goma, which is currently under the control of the March 23 Movement (M23) rebel group.

Jean-Jacques Muyembe, director of the DRC's National Institute for Biomedical Research, told media on Sunday that laboratory tests had confirmed a positive case in Goma.

The confirmed case is the wife of a man who died of Ebola in Bunia, the capital of Ituri Province and the epicenter of the current outbreak. The woman traveled to Goma after her husband's death while already infected, according to Muyembe, one of the country's leading Ebola experts. Muyembe was involved in the investigation of the first known Ebola outbreak in 1976.

The M23 rebel group said in a statement that the patient had been placed in isolation and that contact-tracing operations were underway to identify people who may have been exposed.

The case in Goma follows the report of a confirmed Ebola case Saturday evening in Beni, also in North Kivu province. Prisca Luanda Kamala, provincial minister of social affairs, said the patient had also traveled from Bunia.

OUTBREAK ALREADY SPREADING

On Friday, the DRC government declared a new outbreak, the 17th in the country since 1976, in the eastern DRC province.

A total of 336 cases and 87 deaths have been reported, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Saturday, warning that the outbreak is driven by the Bundibugyo strain, for which no strain-specific vaccine is currently available, and that it carries a high risk of regional spread.

The outbreak has raised regional alarm after Uganda reported an imported Bundibugyo case from the DRC.

International spread has already been documented, with two confirmed cases reported in Kampala, Uganda, on May 15 and 16 following travel from the DRC. Both confirmed cases were admitted to intensive care units in Kampala, said the WHO.

Neighboring countries sharing land borders with the DRC are considered at high risk for further spread due to population mobility, trade and travel linkages, and ongoing epidemiological uncertainty, the WHO said in a statement.