Health officials have discovered the virus has spread some 90 miles from the rural area where it was first reported last week to the crossroads city of Mbandaka, which is home to more than one million people.

"Mbandaka is on the banks of the Congo River and that means that it has connectivity right through to Kinshasa, in the Congolese hinterland, a town of more than 10 million people and it also connects through to neighboring countries such as the Central African Republic and Congo Brazzaville. So, this is a major, major game changer in the outbreak," says Dr. Peter Salama, deputy director-general of Emergency Preparedness and Response at the World Health Organization (WHO).

The news prompted an emergency meeting at WHO so health officials can determine the risk to the region and the world.

So far, 45 cases have now been reported in Congo, and 514 people believed to have been in contact with those infected are being monitored as epidemiologists work to identify additional contacts.

Four-thousand doses of Ebola vaccines have arrived in the country and thousands more are on standby if needed.

"We're certainly not trying to cause any panic in the national or international community. What we're saying though is that urban Ebola is a very different phenomenon to rural Ebola, because we know that people in urban areas can have far more contacts. So that means that urban Ebola can result in an exponential increase in cases," Dr. Salama continued.

This marks the ninth Ebola outbreak in Congo since 1976, but just the first-time people there have had access to vaccines, which have shown to be very effective.

Ebola is transmitted to people from wild animals like bats and monkeys.

Humans then transfer it to each other through bodily fluids.

In most cases the virus is fatal.

To receive daily emails from Breaking Christian News to your inbox CLICK HERE

Hollywood Actress Takes Bold Stand, Defends Christians Reportedly Cut from Foster Care Over Biblical Beliefs

2 House Republicans Introduce Bill to Permanently Ban Federal Abortion Funding

Hamas Now Confirms Hostage Release for Saturday: Report

Here's Where DOGE Found DEI, Climate Waste and Abuse in Federal Grants

Lee Zeldin Just Discovered $20 Billion Laundered by the Biden Administration

AG Pam Bondi Announces New Lawsuits Against States Denying Immigration Actions: 'If You Don't Comply With Federal Law, We Will Hold You Accountable'

Dems Plan State-Level 'Resistance' to Federal GOP Trifecta

The Senate Confirms RFK Jr. as Health and Human Services Secretary

'God Is Using It': AI Expediting Bible Translation; Less Than 1,000 Languages Now Need Translating

Majority of American Teens 'Very Motivated' to Know More About Jesus, Survey Finds

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna to Lead House Investigation into JFK Assassination, Jeffrey Epstein, and UFOs

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth Calls for End of Ukraine War, Announces No New Aid for Ukraine

'Truly Absurd': Judge Dictates HHS Website Content in Defiance of Trump's Executive Order on Gender

If You Have Any Doubts About the Work D.O.G.E. is Doing to Root Out Fraud and Waste, Watch This Video

President Trump Welcomes Home Russian Hostage Marc Fogel: 'I Feel Like The Luckiest Man on Earth Right Now'

'Big Win' and Blow to the Swamp: Senate Confirms Tulsi Gabbard as Trump's Director of National Intelligence

'This Is Huge': FBI Finds Additional 2,400 JFK Assassination Records During Review-Report

First CBS News Poll of Trump Stuns Democrats

New HUD Secretary Works to 'Get Government out of the Way of What the Lord Established'

Former Lead L.A. Recovery Consultants at Hagerty, Firm Hired by Bass, Pleaded Guilty to Stealing Disaster Funds