Amman, June 2 (Petra) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported a significant decline in the number of suspected Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo, following weeks of growing concern over the potential spread of the outbreak within the country and beyond its borders.

According to Euronews, WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said on Tuesday that the number of suspected cases had fallen sharply. As of May 31, a total of 116 suspected cases had been recorded in the Democratic Republic of Congo, compared with 906 cases reported at the end of last week.

Lindmeier said that some of the suspected cases were confirmed as Ebola infections following laboratory testing, while a large number of others were ruled out after patients were found to be suffering from different illnesses with symptoms similar to those of Ebola, including malaria, meningitis and other fever-related conditions unrelated to the virus.

//Petra// AF