Congo declares end to latest Ebola outbreak in less than 3 months
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The latest Ebola virus outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been declared over.
On Monday, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) announced an end to the latest Ebola outbreak in Equateur province following 42 days — the length of two incubation periods — without a new case. During the outbreak, four people were confirmed to have been infected and a fifth was pending confirmation. All the patients died.
The outbreak was declared April 23 after the first case was confirmed. The patient, a 31-year-old man from Mbandaka, began having symptoms on April 5 and was admitted to two health facilities between April 16 and 21. He died on April 21. Shortly after, additional cases and deaths were reported and vaccination efforts began. According to WHO, a total of 2,104 people were vaccinated, including 302 contacts and 1,307 frontline workers.
“Thanks to the robust response by the national authorities, this outbreak has been brought to an end swiftly with limited transmission of the virus,” Matshidiso Moeti, MD, MPH, WHO’s Regional Director for Africa, said in a press release. “Crucial lessons have been learned from past outbreaks and they have been applied to devise and deploy an ever more effective Ebola response.”
This outbreak was the third in Equateur province since 2018 and the 14th in the DRC since the virus was discovered there in 1976, according to WHO. In the previous outbreak in Equateur province, which lasted from June to November 2020, there were 130 and 54 confirmed and probable cases, respectively. Although the latest outbreak has been declared over, health authorities are maintaining surveillance and are ready to respond quickly to any flare-ups, which is not unusual following an outbreak.
“We need to be ever more vigilant to ensure we catch cases quickly,” Moeti said. “This outbreak response shows that by bolstering preparedness, disease surveillance and swift detection, we can stay a step ahead.”
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