Democratic Republic of Congo has been declared free from Ebola. World Health Organization while proclaiming this has said that as no fresh case of Ebola has been reported from Congo in the last 42 days, it has been declared Ebola free.
WHO has been using 42 days as a benchmark for declaring any region as Ebola free. This is double than the 21 day period which is considered as the incubation period for persons suffering from Ebola. Noticeably, WHO has kept Congo in a separate category other than the epidemic suffering region of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.
49 people have been killed due to Ebola in Congo so far. 66 cases of Ebola were reported during the period. Noticeably, the first case of Ebola was discovered in Congo in 1976. This is one of the reasons that minimal numbers of cases were found in Congo.
High fever and internal bleeding are some of the common features of Ebola. The disease spreads through body fluids and any exposure to dead corpses can also prove to be dangerous in this case. Over 5,000 people have died from Ebola in the West African countries in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.
Around 15, 0000 cases of Ebola have been reported until date and medical experts from world over are trying to battle this menace. Many of them have died due to Ebola exposure in the West African nations which have reported these cases so far.