End May Be in Sight for Ebola Outbreak in Central Africa

No new cases have been reported since June 2, the World Health Organizations reports.

Ashley Yeager

| 2 min read

ISTOCK, NIXXPHOTOGRAPHY

Listen with Speechify

0:00

2:00

Update (July 24): The Democratic Republic of Congo health ministry confirms that the latest Ebola outbreak in the country has ended, according to the World Health Organization.

The recent outbreak of Ebola in Democratic Republic of Congo is “largely contained,” the World Health Organization reported June 20 in a statement. Health agencies’ quick response and also the deployment of a vaccine helped to prevent the rapid spread of the virus, according to The New York Times. The vaccine was first field tested during the deadly 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa and was given to more than 3,200 individuals in DRC in the past few weeks.

“The use of vaccination in this Ebola response has been a game-changer as it allowed us to break the chain of transmission and contain the virus more quickly,” the Congolese health ministry said in a statement on Thursday (June 28), Reuters reports.

According to ...

Interested in reading more?

The Scientist ARCHIVES

Become a Member of

Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!

Join for free today

Already a member? Login Here

Keywords

Meet the Author

Ashley Yeager
Ashley started at The Scientist in 2018. Before joining the staff, she worked as a freelance editor and writer, a writer at the Simons Foundation, and a web producer at Science News, among other positions. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and a master’s degree in science writing from MIT. Ashley edits the Scientist to Watch and Profile sections of the magazine and writes news, features, and other stories for both online and print.
View full profile