A woman officially became the last person to be discharged after treatment for Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). She was released from medical care and given an official clean bill of health.
Medics Were Celebrating By Dancing and Cheering
Ever since the Ebola outbreak in 2018, medical teams have been in a constant battle with the disease, trying to control the nation’s second-worst outbreak that has caused the deaths of over two thousand people. Recently, Masika Semida became the last patient in the country treated for Ebola. The event, at which she was discharged from the treatment center in Beni, gave healthcare workers a well-deserved opportunity to cheer and dance in celebration.
The Ebola Outbreak At Its End?
People who were in contact with the patient, prior to the start of her treatment, were closely monitored by officials for over two weeks, and no new Ebola cases were reported. This has given reason for UN officials to believe the outbreak might have finally arrived at its end.
Now that the last Ebola patient has left treatment in good health, officials have applauded the tireless efforts made in response to the outbreak. Still, the end of the outbreak can only be finally confirmed when there are no new infections forty-two days since the last case had tested negative. For now, all of the Ebola response measures will remain in place to make sure that if new cases occur, they can be detected quickly and treated accordingly.
According to the World Health Organization, there are still ongoing processes, such as pathogen detection, surveillance, and clinical management, together with other measures that range from validating alerts, supporting rapid diagnostics for reported or suspected cases, monitoring the remaining contacts, and working with members of the affected communities to increase surveillance on deaths.
For now, at least, things seem to be getting better, and that is truly a good reason for the medical teams that were spearheading the fight to celebrate.