Congo declares its latest Ebola outbreak over, after 43 deaths

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KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Congo on Monday announced the end of an Ebola outbreak that killed 43 people in one of the country's southern provinces, with authorities saying no new confirmed cases had been reported in the past 45 days.

Health Minister Roger Kamba said the 43 deaths were among 53 confirmed cases in the outbreak, which was first announced in September in the Kasai province town of Bulape. He said more than 27,000 people were vaccinated, including 4,000 front-line workers he credited with helping to stem the outbreak.

“Indeed, no new confirmed cases have been recorded for 45 consecutive days," Kamba said in the capital, Kinshasa.

The outbreak in Bulape, which spread to at least four neighboring towns, was the country's 16th since the disease first emerged in the Congo in 1976, and the 7th in Kasai province. The World Health Organization initially faced significant challenges in delivering the vaccine with limited access and scarce funds.

An Ebola outbreak from 2018 to 2020 in eastern Congo killed more than 1,000 people.

The latest outbreak added a fresh layer of worry for the Central African country, which has been battling the M23 rebel group, which launched a rapid assault in January in the eastern region of the country and has since occupied key cities.