A new case of Ebola was reported in eastern DR Congo on Friday, just three days before a deadline that would have marked the official end to the long epidemic, the UN said.

"Unfortunately, this means the government of #DRC will not be able to declare an end to the #Ebola outbreak on Monday, as hoped," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization (WHO), said on Twitter.

The country's health ministry said the case - the first recorded in 52 days - was a 26-year-old man.

"Our teams, in collaboration with the WHO, are already on the ground to carry out further investigations and implement health measures," the ministry's Ebola task force said in a statement.

A health official said the patient reportedly died in hospital early Thursday, several days after falling ill with Ebola symptoms.

The epidemic, the 10th in the Democratic Republic of Congo's history, dates back to August 1 2018.