Congo declares end to 12th Ebola outbreak

The Democratic Republic of the Congo on Monday declared an end to its 12th Ebola outbreak.

The Health Ministry in the vast central African nation said the outbreak in North Kivu province was over, after 12 confirmed infections and six deaths since early February.

Health Minister Jean Jacques Mbungani said authorities must remain vigilant and described the risk of another eruption of Ebola cases as high.

Congo has a history of Ebola outbreaks, with the previous one having been declared over in November. Then, just a few months later, the North Kivu cases emerged.

The Ebola virus causes a fever and often leads to massive internal bleeding and fatalities.

Authorities in the West African nation of Guinea are also working to combat a new Ebola outbreak, complicated by the simultaneous fight against the coronavirus.

Guinea has reported eight deaths so far, according to the World Health Organization.

The two outbreaks are independent of each other, with the countries about 4,000 kilometres apart as the crow flies.

In the last outbreak in West Africa, 28,000 people became infected between 2014 and 2016 in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, and more than 11,000 died.