At a media briefing on Thursday, officials from the World Health Organization (WHO) said that there were positive signs in defeating the outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The last positively identified case of Ebola was confirmed on 4 May, and since then there have been no new cases. 480 contacts are still being monitored and the WHO will complete a 21-day follow-up process with them.
Ebola is a deadly disease which kills between 25%-90% of those infected, depending on the variant. It is spread by contact with bodily fluids of the infected person, and there have been repeated outbreaks in Central and West Africa since its discovery in 1976.
The most recent outbreak in the DRC began in April of this year. There have been great improvements in Ebola prevention and treatment in the aftermath of the large outbreak in West Africa between 2013 and 2016, with the development of a vaccine and several anti-viral medications.