The detection of new cases of infection came days before the WHO was expected to declare the outbreak over.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has said the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo still constitutes a public health emergency of international concern following the emergence of fresh cases.
The announcement on Tuesday came just a day after the country had been expected to announce that its outbreak – the tenth recorded in its history and by far its largest – was over.
The epidemic has killed 2,276 people since it erupted in eastern DRC in August 2018. For it to be declared over, there have to be no new cases reported for 42 days, double the incubation period.
But as the WHO’s emergency committee met on Friday to determine whether to lift its global emergency designation before the expected declaration of the outbreak’s ending, a new case was reported.
Following a fresh meeting on Tuesday afternoon, the committee said it had determined that “while there is a low risk of Ebola international spread, they consider this event to still constitute a public health emergency of international concern, requiring international coordination and support.”
