DR CONGO ÉBOLA – The Democratic Republic of the Congo declares the end of the Ebola epidemic



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The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) today declared the end of the Ebola outbreak detected last May after spending 42 regulatory days without new infections.

"After a 42 – day observation period with no new confirmed cases confirmed, and in accordance with international health regulations, I declare today, July 24, 2018, the end of the year. Ebola outbreak in the province of Ecuador, "said Congolese Minister of Health, Oly Ilunga. 19659002] Since its declaration on May 8, a total of 38 confirmed cases have been recorded, with 17 deaths.

In addition, the Department reported that during this period, 54 cases were counted (38 confirmed and 16 probable), 33 of which died (although only 17 of them tested positive for the virus). Ebola up to now) and 21 have survived.

This Ebola outbreak, originally detected in the rural areas of Bikoro and Iboko and since it has reached an area of ​​the urban area of ​​Mbandaka, it is the ninth that is hitting the Democratic Republic of Congo since the discovery of the virus in 1976 in that country, then called Zaire.

And it is the first time that it is used since the beginning of the epidemic, the experimental vaccine rVSV-ZEBOV, already tested in Guinea Conakri after the 2014 epidemic to 2016.

"Although the magnitude of the crisis we have experienced is unprecedented, the speed and effectiveness of the response put in place by the government and its partners has been exceptional", said the minister.

For the first time in the world, 3,300 people have been vaccinated against Ebola to break the chain of contagion, said the ministry

The World Health Organization (WHO), 39 one of the international agencies that supported the containment of the epidemic, congratulated the country today for its response and asked that this success be extended to other patients in the DRC [[] 19659002] "The outbreak was contained thanks to the tireless efforts of local teams, the support of partners, the generosity of donors and the effective leadership of the Ministry of Health," said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, declaration

The disease, which is transmitted through direct contact with the blood and body fluids of infected persons or animals, causes severe bleeding and may have a 90% mortality rate.

Her first symptoms are sudden, sharp fever, muscle weakness and pain, headache, throat, and vomiting.

The most well-known Ebola outbreak was declared in March 2014 with the first reported cases. since December 2013 in Guinea Conakry, from where it has spread to Sierra Leone and Liberia.

The WHO marked the end of the epidemic in January 2016, after recording 11,300 deaths and more than 28,500 cases, the UN agency admitted that these figures may be preservatives.

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