Ebola outbreak: DR Congo confirms two cases

Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo say they have found two cases of Ebola in the country's north-west.

They are the first reported cases outside West Africa since the outbreak there began, although it is not clear if the cases are directly linked to that outbreak.

So far 1,427 people have died from the virus.

The speed and extent of the outbreak has been "unprecedented", the World Health Organization (WHO) says.

The number of current cases in West Africa now stands at 2,615.

Several people had been reported killed in the past month by an unidentified fever in the Equateur region of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

On Sunday, health minister Felix Kabange Numbi said eight of the fever victims had been tested for Ebola.

"The results are positive. The Ebola virus is confirmed in DRC," Mr Numbi told the Agence France-Presse news agency.