By NewsDesk  @infectiousdiseasenews

The World Health Organization (WHO) says the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continues to remain stable, with no new cases and deaths recorded during the reporting week.

outbreak
Image/CDC

This is the 40th consecutive day without reporting new confirmed EVD cases. During the last 21 days (from 8 to 28 March 2020), there have been no confirmed cases of EVD reported. Among the 29 affected health zones, 28 have not reported confirmed cases in the past 42 days.

With no confirmed reported cases in the past 21 days, this outbreak of EVD would appear to be coming under control, WHO notes.

However, due to challenges related to continued insecurity and population displacement in previous hotspots, limited access to some affected communities, and potential shortages of resources amidst other local and global emergencies, there remains a high risk of re-emergence of the virus.

Therefore, it is critical to maintain surveillance and response operations in the period leading up to the declaration of the end of the outbreak, as well as after the declaration.

A total of  3,453 EVD cases, including 3,310 confirmed and 143 probable cases have been reported since the outbreak began in August 2018.

As of 28 March 2020, a total of 2,273 deaths were recorded, including 2,130 among confirmed cases, resulting in a case fatality ratio among confirmed cases of 64% (2 130/3 310).