Nine new Ebola cases in DR Congo

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The World Health Organisation says nine further cases of the deadly Ebola virus have been confirmed in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

At least 174 people in the country's West Kasai region have died so far in the current outbreak.

Symptoms of the epidemic - high temperature, bloody diarrhoea and visible haemorrhaging - were first seen in the region on 27 April.

There is no known cure for Ebola, which is fatal in around 80% of cases.

The virus is thought to be transmitted through the consumption of infected bush meat and can also be spread by contact with the blood secretions of infected people.

DR Congo's last major Ebola outbreak killed more than 200 people in 1995 in Kikwit, about 400km (250 miles) west of the current outbreak.