Measures should be taken to protect the people of South Sudan against an Ebola outbreak that has been declared in the Democratic Republic of Congo, an official with the World Health Organization has said.

South Sudan borders the Democratic Republic of Congo in the Western and Southwestern parts.

The WHO said at least one person has died after contracting the virus in the DRC’s north-east, where the outbreak was declared over the weekend.

The Congolese health ministry had notified the WHO of a lab-confirmed case of Ebola.

WHO’s Country Director, Dr. Abdulmomin Osman said on Monday that agency was concerned despite low risks of the disease to South Sudan.

“We discussed and agreed that the risk to South Sudan is low because it is very far away from the border in an isolated location and there is an ongoing outbreak response and we hope that it will be contained. But in spite of the low risk, we are not going to sleep here in South Sudan,” Osman said.

Dr. Osman said the WHO is monitoring border crossing in Western Equatoria region which is bordering DRC.

“We are going to ensure that we are ready for any eventualities and because of that we have upgraded our vigilance to ensure that we detect any unusual events especially in the border crossing in Western Equatoria which is bordering DRC.” he added.

More than 11,000 people died in the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014-2015, mainly in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.