Barring new cases, the patient\u2019s recovery kicks off a 42-day countdown to declaring the country\u2019s 16th outbreak over.<\/p>\n
Published On 19 Oct 202519 Oct 2025<\/p>\n
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The last Ebola patient in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been released from a treatment centre in Kasai province, according to the United Nations health agency.<\/p>\n
The patient is the 19th to recover out of 64 total cases recorded since the outbreak was declared<\/a> in September, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement on Sunday.<\/p>\n Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list<\/p>\n If no new cases are discovered in the next 42 days, the outbreak will be declared over.<\/p>\n Mohamed Janabi, the WHO\u2019s director for Africa, said the recovery was a \u201cremarkable achievement\u201d, given the outbreak began just six weeks ago.<\/p>\n \u201cThe country\u2019s robust response, with support from WHO and partners, was pivotal to this achievement,\u201d he added in a social media post.<\/p>\n In a video alongside the post on X, health workers were seen celebrating as the final patient exited the treatment centre in Bulape.<\/p>\n Today, the last #Ebola<\/a> patient in Bulape, #DRC<\/a> was discharged from the treatment centre.<\/p>\n The country\u2019s robust response, with support from WHO and partners, was pivotal to this achievement. A 42-day countdown to declare the outbreak over has now begun.<\/p>\n Until then, @WHO<\/a> and\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/YTEpGzYwPW<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Prof. Mohamed Janabi (@ProfJanabi) October 19, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The outbreak, which is the DRC\u2019s 16th to date, was declared on September 4 as Ebola cases appeared in the Bulape and Mweka areas of the Kasai province in the country\u2019s southwest.<\/p>\n Since then, the WHO has tallied 53 confirmed and 11 probable cases, with patients showing typical Ebola symptoms such as fever, vomiting, diarrhoea and haemorrhaging. Forty-five people have died.<\/p>\n The remote Kasai province has proven challenging to reach, even as it may have helped to prevent the spread of the virus, health officials have said.<\/p>\n Still, the WHO deployed response teams and set up a 32-bed treatment centre for the first time \u201coutside a simulation exercise\u201d in the region, the organisation said. More than 35,000 people have received vaccinations in the Bulape area.<\/p>\n No new cases have been identified since September 25.<\/p>\n Ebola was first identified in 1976 after an outbreak in what is now the DRC. Without treatment, up to 90 percent of cases are fatal, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.<\/p>\n The largest outbreak occurred from 2014 to 2016 in West Africa, ultimately infecting 28,600 and killing 11,325 people, with the disease also spreading to Europe and the United States.<\/p>\n The DRC\u2019s most recent outbreak occurred in 2022 and involved just one recorded case<\/a> of the virus.<\/p>\n\n