Health officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have announced that the first two patients treated for Ebola in the Bulape health zone, Kasai Province, have fully recovered and been discharged from the local treatment centre.
The milestone was confirmed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Office for Africa on its official X handle on Tuesday, describing it as a significant step in the ongoing battle against the virus, which re-emerged earlier this month.
According to WHO, the recoveries were achieved through strengthened clinical care and rapid response measures supported by the Ministry of Health in DRC, in collaboration with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), ALIMA, and other humanitarian partners.
“Appropriate control measures are being rolled out to curb the spread of the virus, save lives, and end the outbreak as quickly as possible,” WHO posted.
Health authorities declared the outbreak on September 4, reporting 28 suspected cases, including 15 deaths (case fatality ratio: 54 per cent) across Bulape, Bulape Com, Dikolo, and the Mweka health zone. Among the deaths were four healthcare workers, while about 80 per cent of cases were recorded in people aged 15 years and older.
To bolster containment efforts, the WHO confirmed that an initial 400 doses of the Ervebo Ebola vaccine—part of a 2,000-dose stockpile pre-positioned in Kinshasa—have already been deployed to Bulape, one of the outbreak’s hotspots, with more doses expected in the coming days.
The Ebola outbreak in Kasai Province comes as Central and West Africa grapple with overlapping crises, including cholera outbreaks, malnutrition, and displacement.
The DRC has experienced 15 Ebola outbreaks since the disease was first identified in 1976. The last occurred in Equateur Province in April 2022 and was successfully contained within three months. Kasai Province previously reported Ebola outbreaks in 2007 and 2008.
Ebola virus disease remains a rare but severe illness with a high fatality rate. It is transmitted to humans through contact with infected animals such as fruit bats and spreads between people via direct contact with blood or bodily fluids of those infected or deceased.
