As of late June, the DRC’s health ministry has declared that those in quarantine for Ebola have passed the 21 day mark, a major step in controlling the outbreak of the disease in the central  African nation. 

This comes less than two month since health officials in the DRC contacted the World Health Organization with requests for aid in combating the outbreak. Amongst the efforts was the first in-field deployment of an Ebola vaccine. This effort allowed more than 3,000 people to receive preventive measures to prevent the further spread of the disease. 55 cases were linked to the outbreak, while the risk of further cases is limited, it is not yet at zero. Officials will not be able to declare the outbreak ended until 42 days (two incubation period) since the last case was determined. The DRC had many advantages in combatting this outbreak as compared to the 2014 Ebola outbreak in several West African nations. 

This is the DRC’s ninth outbreak, while many of the West African nations had never experienced an outbreak until that point. Additionally, the most recent DRC outbreak was limited mainly to rural communities where the disease would be unable to be spread as rapidly as it would be able to be in urban areas. The vaccine was a tool that was born out of the efforts of the 2014 Ebola outbreak, a new tool that has the opportunity to help future outbreaks be minimized or prevented altogether.