Ebola Outbreak Over in Congo

The Ministry of Health in the Democratic Republic of Congo officially declared on Tuesday that the country’s battle against a ravaging Ebola outbreak has come to an end, according to the World Health Organization. The government of Congo declared an outbreak of Ebola hemorrhagic fever in May, the country’s ninth recorded outbreak, CNN reported. According to the Ministry of Health, 54 cases of Ebola virus were recorded during the outbreak, including 33 deaths. The organization 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 frشom care, WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic wrote in an email last week. The last patient was released after blood-testing negative for the Ebola virus on June 12. “DRC beat this outbreak of Ebola through traditional methods such as case investigation, contact tracing and providing care to the sick, and with new tools such as vaccinating people who were at risk of being infected by the virus,” Jasarevic said.