An Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is now over, DRC health officials and the World Health Organisation said this week, after the country went 42 consecutive days without recording a new case.
Reuters reports that the outbreak, declared on 4 September after the disease was identified in the Bulape health zone in Kasai Province, was the country’s first since 2022. Out of a total of 64 cases, 45 people died and 19 others recovered, according to the Congolese Health Ministry.
From the early days of the outbreak, the DRC used a revamped national surveillance system to enable authorities to rapidly map the affected area and contain transmission.
“Controlling and ending this Ebola outbreak in three months is a remarkable achievement,” said WHO regional director Dr Mohamed Janabi.
The country will now begin a 90-day period of enhanced disease surveillance, the statement said.
The Ebola outbreak was the Central African nation’s 16th since the disease was first identified in 1976.
There have been no new cases since 25 September, and the last Ebola patient was discharged on 19 October.
Two maximum incubation periods of 21 days each must pass without the detection of new cases before an outbreak can be declared officially over.
The virus is endemic to the DRC’s vast tropical forests. It is transmitted through contact with blood and other bodily fluids and causes symptoms including fever, body aches and diarrhoea.
Reuters article – Ebola outbreak in Congo over, Congolese health officials and WHO say (Open access)
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Last Ebola patient discharged in Congo
Ebola vaccination campaign kicks off in southern DRC