A person has tested positive for the Ebola virus in the northern Democratic Republic of Congo.

A spokesman for the World Health Organization says officials declared an Ebola outbreak in Bas-Uele province after laboratory tests confirmed the presence of the virus.

The spokesman, Christian Lindmeier, tells VOA English to Africa that nine people in the area fell sick with what is currently listed as hemorrhagic fever. He said three people have died.

The WHO said on its Twitter feed it is working with Congo's Ministry of Health to contain the outbreak.

The ministry says in a statement that teams of doctors, coordinators and specialists are headed to the remote area and should arrive by Saturday.

The last Ebola outbreak in Congo happened in 2014 and killed more than 40 people.

A much larger outbreak swept across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone that year and killed more than 11,000.