WHO: Ebola outbreak in the Congo is over

An Ebola outbreak that sparked fears of another global health crisis and a rapid response to the Democratic Republic of Congo has been successfully contained, the World Health Organization said Tuesday.

Officials declared the threat was over because six weeks — two incubation periods for the virus — had passed since the last patient was released from the hospital, with no new cases reported.

The outbreak, which killed 33 people, resulted in 54 confirmed and suspected infections and struck four areas of the DRC — including Mbandaka, a major port city.

Officials feared at first that the virus would travel up and down the Congo River to neighboring capital cities. Yet aggressive tracking and the use of an experimental vaccine proved successful, as WHO officials mobilized to avoid a repeat of the West African outbreak that killed more than 11,000 in the three-year outbreak that began in 2013.

“The outbreak was contained due to the tireless efforts of local teams, the support of partners, the generosity of donors, and the effective leadership of the [DRC] Ministry of Health. That kind of leadership, allied with strong collaboration between partners, saves lives,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

There is no specific treatment for Ebola, health experts say, which is spread via contact with the bodily fluids of those infected, including the dead. Symptoms include fever, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle pain and at times internal and external bleeding. The virus can be fatal in up to 90 percent of cases, depending on the strain.

The outbreak — the DRC’s ninth since Ebola was discovered in the late 1970s — first emerged in early May, prompting the WHO to release millions of dollars from its contingency fund and activate an emergency response to remote areas of the country.

WHO said it cobbled together $36 million for the response from partnering nations and relief groups, including more than $5 million from the United States. Pharmaceutical giant Merck dispatched its trial vaccine, known as VSV-ZEBOV, to help combat the threat.

More than three-quarters of the 360 people who responded to the outbreak were from Africa, including dozens of vaccination experts from Guinea, where Merck’s shots had proven effective in 2015, according to WHO.

Dr. Tedros urged the global health community to keep its momentum going to tackle health crises beyond Ebola.

“This effective response to Ebola should make the government and partners confident that other major outbreaks affecting the country such as cholera and polio can also be tackled,” he said. “We must continue to work together, investing in strengthened preparedness and access to health care for the most vulnerable.”

“It’s a great relief for us,” Dominique Ekila, a 44-year-old resident of Kinshasa, told The Associated Press on Tuesday. “Since May, I had stopped traveling to Equateur province to sell fish. … With this announcement I will soon plan my next trip.”

Esther Mavinga, who sells vegetables in Kinshasa, told the wire service she was just grateful the outbreak was over.

“We were very worried that this epidemic would come to Kinshasa. The God we prayed to heard our prayers and spared us,” she said.

— This article was based in part on wire service reports.