June 26, 2018

The spread of Ebola seems to have been stopped in Congo, less than three months after the outbreak of the deadly disease was declared, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reported on Tuesday.

“The UN agency is cautiously confident that the outbreak has been contained,’’ a spokesman told a news conference in Geneva.

The last infection was confirmed on June 6, bringing the total of confirmed cases to 38.

The outbreak has claimed 28 lives in the Central African country.

The spokesman said that Congo’s health authorities would remain vigilant since a single new case in a densely populated city could trigger a new chain of infections.

A report says after the outbreak became known, the WHO and other UN agencies raced to contain the virus, which leads to fever, diarrhoea, vomiting and bleeding.

Almost 3,300 people, who came into contact with patients, were immunised.

During the 2014 to 2015 epidemic, which left over 11,000 dead in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, the WHO had been criticised for its slow response.