The Democratic Republic of Congo said Thursday that the latest Ebola outbreak was officially over, as the country marked 42 days with no new cases.
Reports indicate that the start of the latest outbreak was confirmed on October 8 after a three-year-old boy died in Beni, North Kivu province in eastern DR Congo.
Authorities then confirmed 8 more cases and 3 probable ones as well as nine deaths in the area over the next two months, with more than half of the cases involving children under the age of five.
Health Minister Jean-Jacques Mbungani said the outbreak was detected late because of a strike by healthcare workers in the area and on Thursday he declared the outbreak officially over.
Two patients were cured after receiving treatment, including with the REGN-EB3 cocktail of monoclonal antibodies approved by the US Food and Drug Administration at the end of last year.
Several contacts of the infected were also vaccinated with an anti-Ebola jab soon after the outbreak was detected, helping to contain its spread.
