Health officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) say the first two patients treated for Ebola in Kasai Province have fully recovered and left the treatment centre.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Office for Africa announced the news on Tuesday, describing it as “a significant step forward” in the fight against the virus, which re-emerged earlier this month.
The patients were discharged from the Bulape treatment centre in Kasai Province after receiving intensive care. Their recovery was made possible through stronger clinical treatment and rapid response efforts led by the Ministry of Health with support from WHO, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), ALIMA, and other partners.
“@MinSanteRDC—with support from @WHO, @MSF, @ALIMA_ORG and other partners—has accelerated response actions to improve the quality of clinical care over the past week. Appropriate control measures are being rolled out to curb the spread of the virus, save lives, and end the outbreak as quickly as possible,” WHO said in a post on X.
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Health authorities declared the Ebola outbreak in Kasai on September 4. Since then, the WHO has reported 28 suspected cases, including 15 deaths, from three areas in the Bulape health zone and the nearby Mweka health zone. Among the deaths were four healthcare workers. WHO said about 80 per cent of the suspected cases are people aged 15 and older.
To contain the outbreak, the first 400 doses of the Ervebo Ebola vaccine have been delivered to Bulape from the national stockpile in Kinshasa. More doses are expected to reach other affected areas in the coming days.
Ebola is a rare but deadly disease that spreads through contact with blood, body fluids, or contaminated objects. DR Congo has experienced 15 outbreaks since the virus was first discovered in 1976. The last outbreak, in Equateur Province in 2022, was brought under control within three months.