A second Ebola case in Goma—the first prompted an international emergency

Enlarge / A woman gets her temperature measured at an Ebola screening station as she enters Rwanda from the Democratic Republic of the Congo on July 16, 2019 in Goma. (credit: Getty | John Wessels)

A second case of Ebola has been detected in the bustling border city of Goma, further stoking fears that the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s now year-long outbreak will continue to thrive and spread.

Goma, a city of around two million people, sits on the border with Rwanda and acts as a busy transportation hub, running an international airport and overseeing around 15,000 border crossings each day.

The first case of Ebola in Goma earlier this month quickly prompted the World Health Organization to declare the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). The organization says the risk of national and regional spread of the outbreak remains “very high.”