DR Congo Declares End to Recent Ebola Outbreak After Final Patient discharged
Kinshasa, DR Congo – the democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has announced the end of its latest Ebola outbreak following the discharge of the final confirmed patient from a treatment centre in Bulape, Kasai province, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced Sunday. The outbreak was initially declared on September 4, 2025.
If no new cases are detected over the next 42 days, the outbreak will be officially declared over.
The outbreak, the DRC’s 16th, saw 53 confirmed and 11 probable cases since early September, resulting in 45 deaths. Patients exhibited typical Ebola symptoms including fever, vomiting, diarrhoea, and haemorrhaging.
“The country’s robust response, with support from WHO and partners, was pivotal to this achievement,” said Mohamed Janabi, the WHO’s director for Africa, in a social media post. He described the rapid control of the outbreak, which began just six weeks ago, as a “remarkable achievement.”
More than 35,000 people in the Bulape area received vaccinations during the response. No new cases have been identified since September 25. The remote location of Kasai province, while presenting logistical challenges, may have contributed to limiting the virus’s spread.
The WHO deployed response teams and established a 32-bed treatment centre in the region – the first time such a facility has been set up outside of a simulation exercise there.
ebola, first identified in 1976 in what is now the DRC, can be fatal in up to 90 percent of cases if left untreated, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The largest outbreak occurred in West Africa from 2014 to 2016, infecting 28,600 and killing 11,325. The DRC’s previous outbreak in 2022 involved a single confirmed case.
