Devex: Last Ebola patient discharged — what’s next?
“…This is the first time over the past year and a half that the response has entered into an observation period, according to Dr. Abdou Salam Gueye, DRC incident manager at the World Health Organization. … If there are no new cases by the end of this [42-day] period, WHO will declare the end of the outbreak. The countdown started on March 2. … The current strategic response plan — which outlines the response activities needed to end the outbreak — calls for an estimated $83 million from January to June to fund the response, but WHO said it still needs $40 million. Funds are also needed for surveillance efforts and to keep treatment centers active to manage suspected cases. … If this is truly the end of the Ebola outbreak in the DRC, this could mean that more attention can be paid to other outbreaks in DRC, including the world’s worst measles outbreak, as well as prevention efforts for a COVID-19 outbreak…” (Jerving, 3/5).