Ebola Outbreak To Be Declared Over In Less Than 1 Month If DRC Reports No New Cases - WHO

The outbreak of Ebola will be declared over in less than a month if the current trend continues and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) reports no new cases of the disease, the World Health Organization (WHO) director-general said on Wednesday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th March, 2020) The outbreak of Ebola will be declared over in less than a month if the current trend continues and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) reports no new cases of the disease, the World Health Organization (WHO) director-general said on Wednesday.

The DRC has registered no new Ebola cases since February 17.

"It's now more than a month since the last case of Ebola in the DRC [was reported]. If it stays that way, the outbreak will be declared over in less than a month's time. We would like to thank all our partners for their solidarity in staying the course in the service of the people of the DRC," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press conference.

The 10th outbreak of Ebola in the DRC in 40 years was declared by the national authorities on August 1, 2018. Over 3,300 cases have since been confirmed, and more than 2,200 people have died.

The news that the DRC government could declare the Ebola outbreak over comes as the world struggles with the coronavirus disease pandemic. Over 200,000 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 worldwide, and more than 8,000 of them have died.