How the Democratic Republic of the Congo Beat Ebola in 42 Days
The latest outbreak was swiftly contained by a fast, decisive response, acting as a model for containing infectious diseases in remote places.
As anti-climaxes go, it was a most welcome one. On May 11, the Ministry of Health of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) notified the World Health Organization that one of its citizens had been infected with the Ebola virus. The announcement marked the start of the country’s first Ebola outbreak since the historically unprecedented West African epidemic that infected 28,000 people between 2014 and 2016, and killed more than 11,000.
But after just 42 days, it was all over.
With the last confirmed patient having tested negative for the virus for the second time in a on Sunday. Just four people had died, and just four more had become infected.
