The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared Congo free of the second-worst Ebola outbreak in history.
The Organization announced this via its Twitter account on Thursday stating that this was one of the longest & deadliest Ebola outbreaks in history.
“Congratulations to the DRC government, MinSanteRDC & the people of DRC for this victory over one of the longest & deadliest Ebola outbreaks in history. WHO congratulates all those involved in this tough and often dangerous work to end the almost 2-year long outbreak,” the tweet reads.
However, the country’s health minister, Eteni Longondo while speaking at a virtual news conference noted that this has been the longest and most complex Ebola epidemic in the history of the country.
According to Longondo, the 23-month long battle against the outbreak resulted in the death of 2,280 people and also drew on 16,000 front-line workers, technological innovation and a new vaccine.
He also said that efforts to curb the spread of the disease which affected 3,463 people, was hampered earlier due to mistrust from community members, feuds between government officials, attacks on health care facilities and the emergence of new hot spots.