The Democratic Republic of Congo has announced end to the country’s 16th Ebola virus disease outbreak in the central province of Kasai.

Announcing the development, DRC Minister of Public Health, Hygiene and Social Welfare, Dr Samuel Kamba, confirmed that scientific and operational verifications linked to the September 4 outbreak had been concluded.

“On behalf of the government, and taking into account all the scientific and operational indicators confirming that the chain of transmission of the virus has been broken. I hereby officially declare the end of the 16th Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” Mr Kamba said.

The World Health Organisation (WHO), in a statement, to the Peoples Gazette explained that the declaration followed a verified absence of new cases 42 days after the last patient was discharged.

The statement noted that the WHO, alongside the country’s ministry of health and other partners, played key roles in putting an end to the spread of the virus.

According to the WHO, 53 confirmed, 11 probable, as well as 45 death cases were recorded during the phase of the outbreak.

The body noted that a total of 112 WHO experts and frontline responders were deployed to support the national authorities to swiftly assist and sustain the response, with more than 150 tonnes of medical supplies and equipment offered to protect health workers and communities.

Reacting, WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Mohamed Janabi, described the medical success as “a remarkable achievement,” noting that “national authorities, frontline health workers, partners and communities acted with speed and unity in one of the country’s hard-to-reach localities.” 

He added, “WHO is proud to have supported the response and to leave behind stronger systems, from clean water to safer care, that will protect communities long after the outbreak has ended.” 

The WHO noted that a global public-private partnership group, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, played a key role by enabling swift deployment of more than 48,000 vaccine doses from the Gavi-funded global stockpile to address the outbreak.

Commenting, Senior Programme Manager, Global Health Security at Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, Allyson Russell, said, “The swift resolution to this Ebola outbreak is a testament to the dedication of healthcare workers, the ministry of health, partners and communities and to what is possible when mechanisms are in place to fight deadly vaccine-preventable diseases.

“With vaccines from the global Gavi-funded stockpile and timely delivery support, coupled with other critical interventions such as surveillance, contact tracing, isolation and case management, our colleagues in the DRC have demonstrated that it is now possible to rapidly bring Ebola outbreaks like this one under control, dramatically reducing cases, long-term disabilities and deaths,” the programme manager added.

Meanwhile, the global health organisation disclosed that the DRC commenced a 90-day period of enhanced disease surveillance to monitor flare-ups, and provide holistic post-recovery support for Ebola survivors.