Rwanda is on alert following a fresh outbreak of Ebola cases in North Kivu province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Rwandan health ministry said Thursday.

The ministry in a statement called on Rwandan residents and visitors to be calm, saying it is well prepared and has taken measures to prevent any possible outbreak of the deadly virus.

It called on the public to take preventive measures such as avoiding unnecessary movement to areas where the disease has been reported, washing hands with soap and clean water, seeking medical attention after seeing any signs of Ebola, and seek timely medication.

The DRC government announced Wednesday that preliminary laboratory results indicate a cluster of cases of Ebola virus in North Kivu province, which came little more than a week after the Ministry of Health declared the end of an outbreak in Equateur Province in the far western part of the country, some 2,500 km from North Kivu.