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Last Ebola patient discharged from centre in Congo

Healthcare workers celebrated the recovery, but the wider outbreak in Congo is not over.

There is news on this story (Saturday, 31 October 2026, 03:56): Ebola outbreak in Congo claims more than five thousand lives

The last patient has been discharged from an Ebola treatment centre in Mongbwalu, in north-eastern Congo. The event is considered a local success, but comes amid a much larger outbreak in which more than 10,000 infections have reportedly been identified, according to recent reports.

Healthcare workers from organisations including Médecins Sans Frontières celebrated the discharge with music and dancing. In recent months, the treatment centre had cared for patients from the area around Mongbwalu, where the spread of the Bundibugyo virus placed major pressure on healthcare services.

The discharge does not mean that Congo is free of Ebola. According to AP, more than 10,000 confirmed infections have been reported in the country in a short period, and almost half of the confirmed patients have died. Health authorities are constantly updating the exact figures.

An additional problem is that new infections cannot always be traced back to known contacts. This makes contact tracing difficult. Health workers also face mistrust, logistical problems and insecurity in parts of the east of the country.

The situation is also relevant beyond Congo. In neighbouring countries, border measures and medical checks have been tightened after infections were reported as having come from the region. European health services are monitoring developments because of international travel and the evacuation of infected healthcare workers.

The discharge of the last patient from this treatment centre does not mean that the wider outbreak is over. Moreover, formally ending an outbreak requires epidemiological criteria to be met, as well as a period without new cases.

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