Congo declares end to latest Ebola outbreak

By James Tasamba

KIGALI, Rwanda (AA) - The Congo declared an end to its latest Ebola virus outbreak Tuesday that re-emerged in late August in the eastern province of North Kivu.

With just one case confirmed, the outbreak was one of Congo’s least catastrophic, the World Health Organization (WHO) Africa Region office said in a statement.

It involved a 46-year-old woman who died Aug. 15 after being admitted to a hospital on July 23 in Beni.

The announcement came as neighboring Uganda is fighting a fast-evolving outbreak of Sudan Ebola, with 36 cases -- 18 confirmed and 18 probable -- with 23 deaths reported as of Sept. 25.

“The Democratic Republic of the Congo has built up impressive expertise in controlling the virus and we can marshal the lessons learnt to beat back the Ebola outbreak in Uganda,” said Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. “While an effective vaccine is not yet available for the Sudan ebolavirus, this is just one tool. We can and have brought Ebola to heel with robust contact tracing, detection, isolation of cases and good supportive care,” she said.

Congolese Health Minister Jean-Jacques Mbungani attributed the end of the 15th Ebola epidemic to the government's efforts and the support of technical and financial partners.

A previous outbreak in Congo, the country’s 14th, which had four confirmed cases and five deaths, was declared over July 4.

The Ebola outbreaks in the Congo have been caused by the Zaire ebolavirus – one of the six species of the Ebola genus, according to the WHO.

The Congo has now recorded 15 Ebola outbreaks since 1976.

Days after the latest outbreak in North Kivu was declared, more than 500 people were vaccinated, including 350 contacts, contacts of contacts and frontline workers, according to the WHO.

Sample analyses taken from the confirmed case showed the outbreak was genetically linked to the 2018 - 2020 outbreak in North Kivu and Ituri provinces, the most deadly outbreak that killed nearly 2,300 people.