GENEVA, June 26 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday that it's cautiously confident as the current Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) had been largely contained, though continued aggressive response is still required.
Latest WHO figures show that the cumulative confirmed Ebola cases in the DRC has amounted to 38 by Tuesday, together with 14 probable cases and three suspected cases, while the death toll was 28.
Since the vaccination started in the DRC earlier in May, some 3,280 people have been vaccinated and there has not been a confirmed case since June 6, the WHO said, adding that the last 161 contacts of Ebola cases will finish their period of follow-up on Wednesday.
Despite the cautious confidence, the WHO also warned that a continued aggressive response is still required, given the experience that it only takes one case to set off a fast-moving outbreak.
It's an important step towards reaching the end of the outbreak, but it's not yet the end, the UN health agency said, underlining that it's still in active response mode with teams following up on as many as 20 alerts per day.
Earlier in May, the WHO decided that the current DRC Ebola outbreak had not met conditions for a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, but maintained that if the outbreak expands significantly, or if there is international spread, the situation and the risk assessment will be re-evaluated.
The DRC is at its ninth Ebola outbreak since 1976. The latest outbreak reported in May 2017 officially killed four people. The virus takes its name from the river that runs along the village of Yambuku where it raged for the first time in 1976.
