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The "worst case scenario" was averted thanks to rapid mobilization and recourse, for the first time, to a vaccine against this haemorrhagic fever announced Kinshasa Tuesday, July 24.
A new humanitarian disaster was averted in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Health Minister Oly Ilunga announced the good news on Tuesday (July 24th): the end of the Ebola outbreak on May 8th in the north-west, which killed 33 people for 54 cases in total
"After a 42-day observation period, with no new confirmed cases recorded, and in accordance with international health regulations, I declare from today, 24 July 2018, the end of the epidemic of the disease. Ebola virus disease in the province of Ecuador, "he said in a statement on national television RTNC.
WHO congratulated" the country and all those involved in the end of the 'epidemic". Its director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus will be present on Wednesday in Kinshasa to mark the end of the epidemic with the authorities of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
To read also: Ebola, history of an epidemic
The epidemic had hit a large urban center
The final assessment appears as a lesser evil, since the Congolese authorities had prepared with their partners "in the worst scenario" in the face of an "unprecedented" crisis with this epidemic that has affected Ecuador, on the border of Congo-Brazzaville
The anxiety was at its height when the disease, part of isolated areas in the equatorial forest, gained from May 16 a large urban center, the provincial capital Mbandaka and its 1.2 million inhabitants, directly connected to Kinshasa and its 10 million inhabitants by the river Congo.
"Unlike previous epidemics, this one affected four places ts, including an urban center in fluvial connection with the capital and neighboring countries, as well as isolated villages in the equatorial forest. At first, there was a strong concern that the disease could spread to other parts of the DRC, and to neighboring countries, "summarizes the WHO.
Read also: Ebola: how the virus spreads
WHO had been criticized for being slow to respond to the worst Ebola outbreak, which killed more than 11,000 people in 2013-14 in West Africa.
Use of an Ebola Vaccine
Two weeks after the outbreak of the new outbreak was announced, WHO and the Congolese authorities launched a targeted vaccination targeting health workers, patient contacts and contacts. contacts – 3,300 people in total
Used for the first time, the experimental Ebola vaccine was a "fantastic tool", but it played only a "small role" in the fight against epidemic in the DRC, told AFP Michael Ryan, Deputy Director General at WHO
In the opinion of the Congolese authorities and the WHO, the effectiveness of the response is due in particular to a rapid and aggressive humanitarian response, with "extremely rapid deployment of national teams and international field workers". According to Ryan,
Throughout the epidemic, WHO and NGOs have been careful to recall that the DRC was providing leadership for the response, so as not to offend Kinshasa's susceptibility. 19659003] In April, just before the outbreak, the Congolese authorities had boycotted a humanitarian conference for the benefit of the DRC, accusing the UN and NGOs of exaggerating the humanitarian crisis in the country.
An example for fight against other epidemics
"This effective response to the Ebola disease should convince the Congolese government and its partners that it is possible to cope with other epidemics," said the Director General of WHO. [19659003] As in many African countries, malaria kills thousands of people each year in the DRC. The country is also facing a cholera outbreak that affected Kinshasa earlier this year.
Twenty-six cases of polio have also been recorded in recent months in the DRC, unwanted "derivatives" of the vaccine administered to millions
This epidemic of Ebola fever is the ninth on Congolese soil since the virus was identified there in 1976.
One of the most violent had it in 2007, where the haemorrhagic fever had particularly in Kasaï Occidental (center) between April and October, making 187 deaths out of 264 cases listed.
The Congolese epidemic is the second outbreak of Ebola since the terrible epidemic that hit West Africa between December 2013 and 2014, causing more than 11,300 deaths in 29,000 cases, more than 99% in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone
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