The ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo concerns a previously unseen variant of the ​rare Bundibugyo species of the virus, indicating it ‌stemmed from a new transmission from animals to humans rather than from variants linked to earlier outbreaks, a new study ​said.

• Researchers from Congo, Uganda, Belgium and other countries ​analysed the genetic make-up of virus samples from ⁠22 patients in Congo and Uganda and found the ​outbreak strain was genetically distinct from previous Bundibugyo Ebola ​viruses seen in outbreaks in 2007 and 2012.
• The findings, published on Monday in the journal Nature Medicine, suggest the outbreak began with ​a fresh animal-to-human transmission event and was then ​spread between people.
• The study did not identify the animal source of ‌the ⁠outbreak, but Ebola viruses are known to spill over periodically from infected animals to humans.
• The genetic analysis helped confirm that cases detected in Uganda were linked to the ​outbreak in ​Congo.
• The study's authors ⁠said wider access to testing and virus sequencing could help detect future Ebola ​outbreaks earlier and improve efforts to contain them.
• There ​is ⁠no approved vaccine or treatment for Bundibugyo, although candidate vaccines and treatments are under development.
• The outbreak was declared on ⁠May ​15 and has surpassed 2,000 deaths, ​with 4,381 confirmed cases so far, according to the latest government data.