Thread by @WHO

🎉 GOOD NEWS 🎉

The 10th #Ebola outbreak in #DRC 🇨🇩 is OVER!

WHO congratulates all those involved in this tough and often dangerous work to end the almost 2-year long outbreak.

https://twitter.com/WHOAFRO/status/1276101146915098624

Declared in North Kivu, #DRC on 1 August 2018, this #Ebola outbreak was the second largest in the world, occuring in an active conflict zone. 

There were 3470 cases, 2287 deaths and 1171  survivors. 

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1024712199816794112?s=20

The 10th #Ebola outbreak in #DRC is over, but the response is not.

Over 1170 people who were infected & survived still need support. Surveillance and response systems must remain in place to respond to potential flare-ups in the coming months.

Responding to this #Ebola outbreak in #DRC was not easy. Since August 2018, WHO documented 420 attacks on health in 🇨🇩.

Some #healthworkers, including WHO experts, paid the ultimate price and sacrificed their lives to the Ebola response. #NotATarget

Thanks to the dedication of
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Communities
👩🏿‍⚕️ #HealthWorkers and other responders
🤝 Partners
💸 Donors
👨🏿‍🔬 Researchers
there were a lot of successes in this #Ebola response in #DRC.

Meet some of the health heroes who helped stop the outbreak: bit.ly/37VswLU

"The outbreak took so much from all of us... but we came out of it with valuable lessons, and valuable tools. The world is now better-equipped to respond to #Ebola. A vaccine has been licensed and effective treatments identified”-@DrTedros

bit.ly/3ezaCkn

This #Ebola response in #DRC involved:
✅ training 1000s of responders
✅ registering 250,000 contacts
✅ testing 220,000 samples
✅ vaccinating 303,000 people
✅ delivering over 1000 tonnes of supplies
✅ offering care for all 1171 survivors

This #Ebola response in #DRC was bolstered by the engagement and leadership of the affected communities.
Thanks to the efforts of 16,000 local frontline responders working alongside with over 1500 people deployed by WHO, the outbreak did not spread globally.

“We should celebrate this moment, but we must resist complacency. Viruses do not take breaks. Ultimately, the best defence against any outbreak is investing in a stronger health system as the foundation for universal health coverage”-@DrTedros
bit.ly/3fVnTUO

While this 10th outbreak in #DRC has ended, the fight against #Ebola continues. On 1 June 2020, seven new cases were reported in Mbandaka city & neighbouring Bikoro Health Zone in Equateur Province & 11th outbreak was declared. 

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1267506298477838337?s=20

WHO is supporting the #DRC government-led response to the 11th #Ebola outbreak with more than 50 staff already deployed and more than 5000 vaccinations already administered. 

https://twitter.com/WHOAFRO/status/1270343601898369025?s=20

As countries around the 🌍 face the #COVID19 pandemic, the #Ebola response in #DRC provides valuable lessons. Many of the public health measures that have been successful in stopping Ebola are the same measures that are now essential for stopping COVID-19:
linkedin.com/pulse/ending-e…