The Democratic Republic of the Congo officially declared, Wednesday, November 18, the end of the eleventh Ebola epidemic in its history, marked by the concomitance of health emergencies, the use of vaccines and the fight against corruption linked to "Ebola business "denounced by donors like the United States.

"On this Wednesday, November 18, 2020, I am happy to solemnly declare the end of the eleventh epidemic of the Ebola virus disease in the province of Equateur (north-west)", declared the Minister of Health, Eteni Longondo , in front of the press.

The minister made this announcement at the end of the usual sanitary period (42 days after the last cured patient tested negative for good).

In total, the epidemic has killed 55 people for 130 cases (119 confirmed, 11 probable), according to the count of the World Health Organization (WHO), whose director general congratulated the DR Congo.

It was declared on June 1, when the country had taken restrictive measures - since lifted - in the face of Covid-19 (11,839 cases, 322 deaths to date).

As of June 1, DR Congo was even managing two Ebola crises at the same time, with the tenth still officially underway in the East, which left more than 2,200 dead between August 2018 and the end of June 2020, and considered the most serious in the history of the country.

As in the East, the vaccination has been widely used on "more than 40,580 people," the WHO said.

The vaccine used was rVSV-ZEBOV-GP from the American group Merck Sharp & Dohme.

Fight against corruption

During this new epidemic, the DR Congo and its donors tried to fight against the corrupt practices that parasitized the fight against the great Ebola crisis in the East.

"I wanted to avoid this in the province of Equateur", detailed the minister, denouncing those who took advantage of Ebola in the past "to make money".

But old practices have resurfaced: "Some health officials have inflated the list of providers. It took us a while to sort out these problems."

"This is why we did not pay people on time and this sparked strikes," he added, promising a disbursement within the week.

The response to the epidemic was therefore longer than expected: “At first, I thought it would take two, three months” but “it took five to six months”.

"We have seen that the Congolese people are fed up with corrupt practices," wrote the ambassadors of the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, returning in mid-September from a field mission with the Congolese epidemiologist Jean-Jacques Muyembe.

"In Mbandaka (capital of Ecuador), there were more than 4,000 staff members assigned to the Ebola response while there were only 120 cases. Why 4,000 people?" the Canadian Ambassador.

"High risk of resurgence"

The latest Ebola epidemic affected large areas without road access, in the forest, along the Congo River or its tributaries, with risks of spread to neighboring Congo-Brazzaville and other provinces.

The minister thanked the "international community" for its logistical support (a helicopter and fast canals ...).

Beyond this emergency aid, voices have been raised to denounce the lack of long-term investment in the very fragile public health system in DR Congo. 

"I therefore call on the Congolese authorities and donors to continue their commitment to strengthening the health system," said the United Nations humanitarian coordinator in DR Congo, David McLachlan-Karr.

"The high risk of resurgence remains permanent and must serve as a warning signal for the vigilance system to be strengthened", according to the minister.

The International Federation of the Red Cross recalled in a statement that the DRC was still facing "considerable humanitarian challenges".

Identified in 1976 by Peter Piot and an international team including the Congolese professor Muyembe, the Ebola virus is transmitted to humans through infected animals.

Human transmission occurs through bodily fluids, with the main symptoms of fever, vomiting, bleeding, diarrhea.

Since the great epidemic of 2013-2016 in West Africa (11,000 deaths), and the export of a few cases to the West, the WHO fears with each resurgence of Ebola a spread of the virus in the world.

The UN agency had also elevated the previous epidemic in the East to the rank of international health emergency.

With AFP

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