Map of DRC

The outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been contained, the Ministry of Health and The World Health Organization have said.

The two partners told a press conference in Juba on Friday that no new cases have been reported since the outbreak.

Mid May, UN health agency- WHO declared an outbreak in the DRC, after one confirmed death.

The Minister of Health Dr. Riak Gai Kok says WHO responded quickly and isolated the victims during the outbreak.

He says this prevented the disease from spreading further.

”The Ebola cases in Congo has been contained, only three cases were reported, there were no new cases. The tracking system that was applied by WHO and their partners in Congo succeeded and also to identify all those contacts that came with three persons,” Dr. Gai said.

Dr. Gai says that the government has also suspended the surveillance put at the Juba airport.

“So even the surveillance that we were trying to introduce in Juba airport we have also suspended it because it’s waste of resources and energy. We are connecting with DRC through the two offices of WHO in Congo, South Sudan and also Brazzaville,” said Dr. Gai.

From his part, the country director of the World Health Organization in South Sudan, Abdul Momin Osman said his office is monitoring the situation with their colleagues in Congo.

”We are monitoring carefully with our colleagues in the Democratic Republic of Congo. However, the risks the disease in Congo has gone down. We have not seen the spread of the disease inside Congo,” said Osman.

Early last month the states of Tambora and Gbudwe closed their borders with DRC due to the Ebola outbreak.

Ebola virus disease (EVD), formerly known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever, is a severe, often fatal illness in humans.
The virus is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human-to-human transmission.