KINSHASA, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Monday declared an end to the latest Ebola outbreak in the country.
"The chain of transmission has been stopped. I hereby officially declare the end of the 16th Ebola outbreak in the DRC," Health Minister Roger Kamba told a ceremony in the capital, Kinshasa.
On Sept. 4, the government confirmed a new Ebola outbreak in Kasai Province in central DRC, the country's 16th outbreak since 1976.
The flare-up came amid an agitated public health environment, marked by the simultaneous resurgence of mpox, cholera, and measles across the country.
Monday's ceremony was attended by DRC Prime Minister Judith Suminwa Tuluka and officials from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).
Since September, 64 cases have been reported in Bulape, a health zone in Kasai, including 53 confirmed and 11 probable cases, with 43 deaths.
No new infections have been reported since Sept. 25, according to a previous WHO report.
The previous Ebola outbreak occurred in the DRC in 2022 in the eastern province of North Kivu.
Ebola is a highly contagious hemorrhagic fever that causes symptoms such as fever, vomiting, diarrhea, generalized pain, and malaise, and in many cases, internal and external bleeding, according to the WHO. ■