Congo declares end to Ebola outbreak after 4 deaths

Congo’s Health Minister Oly Ilunga Kalenga said that Congo has officially gone 42 days with no new recorded cases of the deadly virus. The outbreak killed four of the eight people infected, he added.

The last confirmed patient was in the affected Bas-Uele province and tested negative for the disease for the second time. The WHO has assured that surveillance would continue as before in the country and the teams would be prepared to handle and manage any further outbreaks of Ebola.

Health officials say Congolese health authorities approved the use of a new experimental vaccine, but ultimately declined to deploy it due to the small scale of the outbreak and logistical challenges.

The WHO called it the eighth outbreak of the haemorrhagic fever in Congo since 1976./.