Health officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo have confirmed eight new Ebola virus cases in North Kivu province, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Wednesday.

This marks a new outbreak in the country.

Of the eight cases, there have been six fatalities, the WHO's regional office for Africa said on its Twitter account.

Some 573 people who had been exposed to the virus have been identified.

The WHO tweeted an update:

UPDATE: #Ebola in #DRC 🇨🇩 of Congo - Kinshasa Situation Report (01/11/21)
▪️ 8 confirmed cases
▪️ 6 deaths
▪️ 573 contacts identified
▪️ 489 contacts monitored pic.twitter.com/fGR0nS6UoT

— WHO African Region (@WHOAFRO) November 3, 2021

The country has had a resurgence of the virus cases this year.

A previous Ebola outbreak in DR Congo was declared over in May 2021.

It had claimed the lives of 2,287 people since August 2018.