Officials say the disease has been diagnosed as a result of the vaccine as they continue to monitor the situation.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo on Monday announced the end of an Ebola outbreak that had infected 12 people in northeastern North Kivu and killed six of them.
The outbreak occurred using the Merck Ebola vaccine, which was given to more than 1,600 people in and out of their contacts, says Medical Doctors Without Border (Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF).
The cases were linked to the 2018-20 Ebola epidemic that killed more than 2,200 people, the second highest number recorded in the history of the disease.
The latest fire, the 12th since the disease was first identified in 1976, erupted on February 3 in Butembo city with the death of a woman whose husband contracted the virus first.
The virus can remain in other body fluids, including the sperm, of a patient who has been cured, even if he or she is not infected.
“I am pleased to announce the end of the 12th Ebola epidemic in North Kivu province,” Health Minister Jean-Jacques Mbungani said in a statement on Monday.
“Despite the safety and response of the COVID-19 epidemic, the speed and rapid response by the government and its stakeholders led to the eradication of the epidemic within three months,” he said.
The answer is often hampered by insecurity due to military forces and economic crises slowing down medical services, reports the World Health Organization (WHO).
“Health officials and government officials should be given high regard for their prompt response, resilience, skills and hard work that contributed to the epidemic,” said Matshidiso Moeti, WHO’s Africa director for Africa.
“Even if the dispersal is over, we need to be vigilant so that we can start again and immediately use the growing expertise in emergency response to address some of the threats facing the country.”
The council urged people to remain vigilant, and said task teams would continue to work with health officials to investigate any cases.
A deadly disease that can cause bleeding and paralysis, Ebola killed about 11,000 people in West Africa between 2013 and 2016.
The DRC is also fighting the coronavirus. The country says about 30,000 cases and 768 people have died.
