Troubling new information is emerging about who the current Ebola outbreak in the DR Congo is impacting the most, and where the killer virus appears to be spreading, and how long it could last.

About two-thirds of the patients have been women, according to the UN World Health Organization.  Social anthropologist Dr. Julienne Anoko says that women tend to be the heads of the household in North Kivu province where health workers are battling the outbreak.  That means they're usually responsible for caring for the sick, taking them to the hospital, and preparing bodies for a burial.  That puts them at increased danger of exposure to the Ebola virus which is spread via bodily fluids.  Dr. Anoko also says a great many women in North Kivu have also shown distrust of male health workers,.

"This is unexpected," said WHO regional director for Africa Dr. Matshidiso Moeti , who added that gender should play a larger role in health agencies' analysis of and response to infectious disease outbreaks.  "It shows the role of women needs to be taken into account right from the get-go," she said.

The outbreak has infected more than 680 people, and 414 have died.  Four new cases have popped up in Kayina, a town in North Kivu that is halfway in between the current containment zone and Goma, a city of more than a million people.  Fighting among rebels and militia groups is already hampering the important work of health workers who are responding to the outbreak.  The virus expanding into a bustling city would greatly complicate that process.

"This is the most complicated setting we've ever experienced in order to stop an Ebola outbreak," said Peter Salama, the World Health Organization's top expert on emergency preparedness and response, "At a minimum, it will take six further months to stop."