from JEAN KASSONGO in Kinshasa, DRC
KINSHASA, (CAJ News) – THE end of the current outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) could be declared in November.
This as the epicentre of the eruption, the western province of Equateur, this week totaled three weeks without registering a new case.
The last confirmed case of the virus was reported in the Makanza Treatment Centre on October 7.
“With this development, the end of the epidemic could be declared by November 18,” the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) stated.
The outbreak can be declared over at the end of the 42 days from the last notified case.
However, a spokesperson added surveillance and communication actions are multiplying in the field to find contacts that have been lost sight of and strengthen community engagement.
The latest outbreak, the 11th in the former Zaire, was declared in June.
Some 130 cases have been reported, including 55 deaths.
There have been 75 recoveries.
More than 39 330 people have been vaccinated since the start of the epidemic.
DRC is prone to Ebola, a disease that causes a severe and often fatal hemorrhagic fever in humans and other mammals.
However, the first known outbreak was in Sudan in 1976 when no less than 151 people died.
The worst outbreak was the 2013–2016 epidemic in West Africa where 11 323 were confirmed.
– CAJ News