Congolese health officials and the U.N.’s World Health Organization, have indicated that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is now over.
The outbreak, declared on September 4 after the disease was identified in the Bulape health zone in Congo’s 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, Congo 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,” WHO regional director Dr Mohamed Janabi said in a statement.
The health officials in a statement released on Monday said the country went 42 consecutive days without recording a new case. Congo 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, according to the WHO.
