The Ministry of Health in the Democratic Republic of Congo officially declared on Tuesday that the country’s battle against the Ebola outbreak has come to an end, according to the World Health Organization
The government of Congo declared an outbreak of Ebolahemorrhagic fever in May, the country’s ninth recorded outbreak. According to the Ministry of Health, 54 cases of Ebola virus were recorded during the outbreak, including 33 deaths.
WHO provided guidance to the ministry to declare the outbreak over if no other cases were confirmed and two full incubation periods of 21 days each have passed, starting the day after the last Ebola patient was released from care. The last patient was released after blood-testing negative for the Ebola virus on June 12.
“Perhaps because of climate change, because of changes in reservoir animals or vectors, and because of human encroachment on animal populations, we’re seeing more and more urban outbreaks of these kinds of high-threat pathogens — and that poses a very different set of risks,” a WHO spokesperson said.
However with the additional support from many other organizations — including the United Nations, the World Food Program, USAID, the Wellcome Trust, the World Bank and several countries — more funding toward the Ebola response was provided to WHO. Hundreds of health workers and supplies were shipped in and out of the affected areas.
