The Democratic Republic of Congo has been forced to cancel its pre-World Cup training camp in Kinshasa due to a deadly Ebola outbreak in the east of the country, moving preparations to Belgium instead.
The outbreak, which the World Health Organization has declared a "public health emergency of international concern," has killed at least 139 people out of 600 suspected cases, according to the WHO. Congolese health officials, however, report 159 deaths.
Jerry Kalemo, a spokesperson for the national team, confirmed that pre-tournament friendly matches in Europe will proceed as planned. DR Congo is set to face Denmark on June 3 in Belgium and Chile on June 9 in Spain before heading to the World Cup finals in the United States, where they will play Portugal in Houston on June 17.
The decision to cancel the camp in Kinshasa was prompted by travel restrictions imposed by the U.S., which bans entry from non-Americans who have been in DR Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan within the past 21 days. Since all DR Congo players and their French coach, Sébastien Desabre, are based abroad, they are unaffected. Some team staff based in DR Congo left the country on Wednesday to comply with the 21-day deadline.
The high-profile event in Kinshasa, which was expected to draw fans and President Felix Tshisekedi, has been scrapped. The city is approximately 1,800 km from the epicenter of the outbreak in Ituri province, and no cases have been reported there.
The outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which no vaccine currently exists. The WHO has warned it could take up to nine months to develop a vaccine.