The Minister of Health in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) announced today, Wednesday, the end of the outbreak of the "Ebola" disease, in the west area of the country.
Ebola has infected 130 people and killed 55 others.
The outbreak of this disease began in June when the first case appeared but Congo announced the end of a separate outbreak of Ebola in the east of the country. It was the second deadliest outbreak of the disease ever, killing more than 2,200 people.
"I extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone who has tirelessly tracked cases, provided treatment and vaccination in remote communities, most of which are located in dense rain forests," said Rebecca Machidizu Moeti, WHO director in Africa.
It is worth noting that Congo has suffered 11 outbreaks of Ebola since the virus was discovered near the Ebola River in 1976, more than twice as much as any other country.
Its tropical forests are a natural habitat for the virus, which causes severe vomiting and diarrhea; it spreads through contact with body fluids.
In 2018, an outbreak of the Ebola virus in an eastern province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo became the second-largest epidemic of the deadly disease in modern history as public health officials struggle to contain its spread.
Congo’s Health Ministry said then that at least 426 cases of the Ebola virus had been identified and of those infected, 245 died throughout December 2018. That number surpasses a 2000-2001 outbreak in neighboring Uganda, in which 425 people were infected and 224 died.
The worst Ebola outbreak in recorded history began in 2013 in the West African nation of Guinea, where it spread to Liberia and Sierra Leone and infected more than 28,000 people.
Public health experts say the outbreak in Congo’s North Kivu and Ituri provinces has been difficult to contain because of a combination of insecurity in a region where dozens of armed rebel groups operate freely and community distrust of the government.
North Kivu is home to more than 8 million people. More than a million of those residents are internally displaced by decades-long ethnic violence.
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