Health officials have finished tracking down every person in the Democratic Republic of the Congo who was at risk for becoming infected with Ebola, the World Health Organization announced Friday.
Medical teams in the Congo followed up with more than 20,000 people as of June 27 to make sure they safely made it out of the 21-day incubation period without developing symptoms of the illness, which can be deadly.
The last confirmed patient with Ebola was discharged June 12 after he or she no longer tested positive for the virus. Officials cannot declare the outbreak over until 42 days, or two incubation periods, have passed without anymore people testing positive for Ebola.
Still, WHO said the latest outcomes show that the Ebola outbreak “has largely been contained.”
Health officials used an experimental vaccine to prevent the virus from becoming an epidemic, vaccinating a total of 3,330 people.
During the outbreak, 29 of the 53 people who became infected with Ebola died, including two healthcare workers. Cases were reported in three different parts of the Congo: Bikoro, Iboko and Wantaga, but no cases were found to have been exported to other countries.
The virus is spread through direct contact with people who are infected, causing body aches, bleeding, vomiting, and diarrhea. It also can be transmitted through sex and has been found in studies to remain in semen for more than two years. For this reason WHO is continuing to monitor the possible re-emergence of the virus.
The largest outbreak of Ebola occurred from 2014 to 2016, killing more than 11,300 people in Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia, and also reaching the U.S.
