DR Congo’s Ebola Outbreak Could Finally Be Over
By: Jonathan Stormer Pezzi
New York — Since August 2018, the Ebola virus has killed more than 2,200 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Fortunately, the outbreak seems to be finally coming to an end as the last Ebola patient has been discharged from a treatment center in the country’s east.
The outbreak can be declared officially over after 42 days, two incubation periods of the virus, the time an infectious disease takes to develop inside an individual before symptoms appear.
Treatment centers will remain open but will slowly reduce their staffing based on how the outbreak plays out, according to Ina Skosana of Conversation Africa. She went on to say that teams will also be on standby to provide vaccines. The waiting period, however, has not stopped people from celebrating.
Aid and medical personnel have been celebrating in the streets after discharging the patient. They dance with high hopes, yearning for an end to the nearly two year outbreak.
The World Health Organization (WHO) released a statement regarding the patient’s release. Although encouraged, the organization pleads for caution. The statement cited that 46 people had come in contact with the patient. They are still being monitored for symptoms.
“We are hopeful, yet cautiously optimistic that we will soon bring this outbreak to an end, ” says WHO Regional Director Dr. Matshidiso Moeti.
"It is not yet the end of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We must stay vigilant in the coming weeks and beyond," she went on.
This is the tenth outbreak in the country since the virus was discovered in 1976. In the largest Ebola outbreak in history, at least 11, 300 people were killed in West Africa between 2014 and 2016.
For some time, the international community was unsure if the virus could be contained. The recent outbreak in DR Congo was made considerably worse due to government instability and conflict in the country’s east. This unrest has spilled over to medical workers as well; four were killed in November of last year.
In total, there have been 386 attacks, seven deaths and 77 injuries against healthcare workers since the outbreak started, according to Dr. Mike Ryan, Executive Director of the WHO Health Emergencies Program.
These attacks have been at the hands of militias but civilians as well. Many of whom are angry at the United Nations for failing to protect the local population from the armed groups.
Now, as the outbreak has seemingly waned, the new coronavirus poses a serious threat to the country.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention identified the DRC as one of thirteen countries most at risk of coronavirus due to their direct travel links with China.
Although the country’s ongoing conflict and poor governance put the population at risk of coronavirus, some believe the DRC is actually better equipped than many to handle the new infection.
“Some countries in Africa, including DRC, are leveraging the capacity they have built up to test for Ebola, to test for COVID-19”, says WHO Director—General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
After years of dealing with Ebola, the DRC’s public health capabilities have undoubtedly improved. However, after a recent measles outbreak left 6,000 dead, the country’s full ability to combat these emergencies is still in doubt.