DR Congo discharges last Ebola patient

By Felix Tih

ANKARA (AA) - The last Ebola patient has been discharged from a treatment facility in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Tuesday.

In a tweet, WHO congratulated all partners involved in the Ebola response activities. ''We will remain in full response mode for the remainder of the observation period,'' it added.

David Gressly, UN Emergency Ebola Response coordinator, said in a statement that there have been no confirmed cases in the last two weeks and only two in the last 21 days.

The recent Ebola outbreak in DR Congo since it was declared in August 2018 left more than 2,200 people dead, with 3,310 cases reported.

There are currently zero cases of Ebola in DRC after over a year of fighting this outbreak, Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, tweeted.

''So proud of all involved in the response. We are hopeful, yet cautiously optimistic that we will soon bring this outbreak to an end,'' she added.

Ebola -- a tropical fever, which first appeared in 1976 in Sudan and the DRC -- can be transmitted to humans from wild animals.

It can also reportedly spread through contact with body fluids, infected persons or of those who have succumbed to the virus.

Ebola caused global alarm in 2014 when the world's worst outbreak began in West Africa, killing more than 11,300 people and infecting an estimated 28,600 as it swept through Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.