Ebola case in DRC's Goma 'a warning': WHO

A confirmed Ebola case in the key Democratic Republic of Congo city of Goma is "a warning" about the dangers of the outbreak, a top UN official said Monday.

"Goma is a warning," the World Health Organization's emergencies chief, Mike Ryan, told reporters in Geneva.

"It is a warning because every time the disease moves it can re-establish itself somewhere else," he later told AFP.

Authorities in the eastern city have appealed for calm after an evangelical preacher fell ill with Ebola, the first recorded case of the disease in the urban hub in a nearly year-old epidemic.

Goma, which has a population of around one million, is the capital of North Kivu province, the epicentre of an outbreak that has claimed more than 1,600 lives -- the second highest toll in Ebola's history.

Asked about his level of concern following the confirmed Goma case, Ryan said that a full containment response was well underway.

Sixty people who had had contact with the preacher had been identified so far, he said.

"We are dealing with the 60 contacts we have now," he said. "We have found and vaccinated 30, and hopefully we will have (vaccinated) the other 30 in the next 24 hours," he told reporters.