Panafrican News Agency

WHO says Ebola outbreak in eastern DR Congo is over

Kigali, Rwanda (PANA ) - The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Thursday the end of the 10th Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as no new case was reported for more than 50 days.

A statement by the UN agency said the DR Congo grappled with the world's second-largest Ebola epidemic on record, with more than 2,200 lives lost and 3,400 confirmed infections since the outbreak was declared on Aug. 1, 2018

During a media briefing on COVID-19 and Ebola in Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa, commended the “leadership of the DRC president, and the sacrifice and perseverance of 16,000 front line responders and communities ... who have brought about the end of this 10th Ebola outbreak in the country!

“It wasn’t easy – and at times it seemed like a mission impossible. Ending this Ebola outbreak is a sign of hope for the region and the world, that with solidarity and science and courage and commitment, even the most challenging epidemics can be controlled,” she said.

However, the death toll in the 11th Ebola outbreak in Mbandaka, northern Equateur province in the central African country rose to 13, the WHO said.

On June 1, the DRC government confirmed that a new Ebola outbreak occurred in Mbandaka.

For an outbreak to be officially over, there have to be no new cases reported for 42 days, which is double the incubation period of the deadly hemorrhagic microbe.

The epidemic in the east was declared by the WHO in July 2019 to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, a move that stepped up international support given the epicenter's close proximity to neighbouring Rwanda and Uganda.

Two experimental vaccines were brought in to help roll back the disease. More than 320,000 people received the vaccination.

The Ebola virus is passed on by contact with the blood, body fluids, secretions or organs of an infected or recently deceased person.

-0- PANA TWA/AR 25June2020