New suspected cases of Ebola have been reported in parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo that were previously unaffected, the government says, as the death toll in the country's latest outbreak reached 600.
According to the DR Congolese health ministry, suspected cases have been recorded in the provinces of Tshopo and Haut-Uele, signalling the continued spread of the disease beyond the epicentre in Ituri.
A government report, published late on Wednesday, said two new cases were suspected in Kisangani, in Tshopo province.
The minister did not say how many cases were suspected in Haut-Uele.
The total number of confirmed cases across the country has reached 1759.
According to the report, one of the two suspected cases in Tshopo was linked to the Nia-Nia health zone in Ituri province, where the first cases were reported, while the other case "has no apparent geographical connection to known outbreaks".
Authorities were investigating.
The DR Congolese authorities declared a new Ebola outbreak on May 15, after the disease had been transmitted for weeks without official detection, according to the World Health Organisation.
The latest outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus, which has no approved vaccine or treatment.
Ebola response workers in the country's northeast staged protests outside three treatment centres on Thursday, saying they had not been paid all they were owed for their work.
Dozens of members of Ebola response teams gathered outside the Centre Medical Evangelique (CME), Elikya and Salama treatment centres in Bunia, the capital of Ituri province.
One of the protests, outside the CME, was dispersed by police.
It was not immediately clear whether the protests had disrupted operations at the treatment centres.
Speaking to journalists in Bunia, Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba acknowledged there had been problems with "the human resources pillar of the response," namely with ensuring that the lists of people who needed to be paid were updated and accurate.
A DR Congolese health official, who asked not to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the press, told Reuters that talks were ongoing with workers who were threatening to go on strike but that so far no strike had begun.
Last week, clinical trials for treatment began after researchers launched a highly anticipated study in the hope of fighting the Bundibugyo virus.
Efforts to contain the virus have also been hampered by a funding gap, attacks on health centres and an ongoing conflict in eastern DR Congo, the epicentre of the outbreak.
with Reuters