Authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo say the Ebola outbreak is reaching its peak. Since the epidemic began in May, the number of new infections is finally slowing down. This is a big change in the fight against the Bundibugyo variant of the virus. Health minister Samuel Roger Kamba said that the virus is spreading less. At the highest point of the crisis, there were about 120 confirmed cases every day. Now, officials see about 80 cases per day. This is good news for health workers.
The situation is different in many health zones. There are 62 health zones in total. Ten of these zones have had no new cases for more than 22 days. Because of this, six health zones can be removed from the active list because they had no new cases for more than 42 days. Also, four other health zones can be removed because they had no new cases for more than 21 days. This helps doctors send help to the areas where the virus is still active.
However, the situation is still very serious. The authorities declared the outbreak on 15 May. By 14 September, there were more than 7,200 confirmed cases. Also, more than 3,475 people have died. Experts say that between 60% and 70% of all deaths happen in the community. To help, the country received more than 70,000 doses of the Ervebo vaccine last month. Doctors use these vaccines to protect people and stop the virus from spreading more.