DR Congo has overcome the eleventh outbreak of the Ebola virus, which had been circulating for half a year in the Central African nation, the World Health Organization (WHO) regional department announced on Wednesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th November, 2020) DR Congo has overcome the eleventh outbreak of the Ebola virus, which had been circulating for half a year in the Central African nation, the World Health Organization (WHO) regional department announced on Wednesday.
The WHO estimates a 50-percent fatality rate from the Ebola disease, which is transmitted to humans from wild animals. The virus takes its name from the DRC's Ebola River, which is near where the virus was discovered by Belgian microbiologist Peter Piot in 1976.
"Today marks the end of the 11th Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), nearly six months after the first cases were reported in Equateur Province," the office said.
On June 1, DRC Health Minister Eteni Longondo announced a fresh cluster of Ebola cases in the city of Mbandaka, the capital of the Equateur province, which was regarded as the eleventh virus outbreak in the country. It came as another Ebola outbreak in the eastern part of the country was winding down before it was declared over on June 25.
The eleventh outbreak of the disease has brought 119 confirmed infections, 55 fatalities, 75 recoveries and 11 probable cases. The WHO noted in its report that the eleventh outbreak came on the heels of COVID-19 pandemic, which created shortages of resources and other challenges during the treatment of the disease.
