DR Congo declares last Ebola outbreak under control

Health authorities in Kinshasa said the Ebola virus was under control five weeks after the deaths of 89 people in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Ministry of Health announced the outbreak on August 1 in North Kivu province and revealed Thursday that it had spread to Butembo, a city of one million people. 39; inhabitants.

But the Minister of Health, Oly Ilunga Kalenga, said: "Since August 13, there is virtually no case, we can say that the situation was controlled at the epicenter (Mabalako).

The latest epidemic of the virus is the tenth largest in the Democratic Republic of Congo since 1976, when the disease was first identified and named after a river in the north of the country.

"To date, we have 129 cases (31 probable and 98 confirmed), 89 deaths and 33 patients cured," said Dr. Oly Ilunga.

Fears of a spread of the disease were expressed Thursday after the announcement of two deaths in Butembo, Uganda's popular trading center and transit point.

A woman and a medical staff member who treated her died in the city.

"Even in Butembo, the situation is not critical," said the minister at a press conference also attended by the Congolese professor and prominent researcher on the Ebola virus, Professor Jean-Jacques Muyembe .

"The Ebola virus is circulating here and in Africa in general … we have to be vigilant," said Muyembe.

The fight against the spread of the disease is complicated by the fact that it affects an insecure region of the Congo because of the presence of armed groups.

However, Dr. Oly Ilunga said that the teams treating the patients had benefited from the support of the army and the police, as well as the support of the UN mission Monusco.

The previous Ebola outbreak, which killed 33 people in the northwestern province of Ecuador, was declared on July 24.

Explore more:
The number of Ebola victims rises to 88 in DR Congo