(Photo: EPA-EFE)
“I am cautiously optimistic that we shall be able to bring it to an end soon," General Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus added.
He had also tweeted, "It's far too early to declare victory in the Ebola outbreak. But the signals are positive and we are cautiously optimistic.”
His comments come after the WHO and NGOs since May 21st began helping the DRC immunize front-line workers with a vaccine that has shown to be highly effective in trials, though it still awaits regulatory approval.
A total of 1,369 people have received the experimental vaccine since May 21st.
Earlier, the WHO had prepared to deploy 4,000 doses of Ebola vaccine in the DRC to control the outbreak.
“We’re working on the deployment of these materials, especially readying the cold chain,” WHO Africa Director Matshidiso Moeti said. “The start date of the vaccinations will depend on this deployment.”
DRC’s Minister of Health Oly Ilunga on May 10th announced the first confirmed death in a new outbreak of Ebola virus, and said 11 other people were confirmed to be infected.
This is the ninth time Ebola has been recorded in the DRC.
The first reported case of Ebola occurred in the DRC in 1976 in an outbreak that killed at least 280 people.
The worst Ebola epidemic ended in West Africa two years ago, after killing more than 11,300 people and infecting about 28,600 across Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
Ebola, one of the deadliest viruses known to man, is spread through direct contact, and it can also be transmitted through sexual contact or unprotected handling of contaminated corpses.
There is no specific treatment for Ebola, which is spread through the bodily fluids of people exhibiting symptoms./.