Congolese Health Minister Eteni Longondo on Thursday officially proclaimed the end of the Ebola epidemic in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the second most serious since the discovery of the virus in 1976.

Declared on 1 August 2018, this tenth epidemic of haemorrhagic fever on Congolese soil has killed 2,277 people, said the Minister of Health, who spoke of the epidemic “the longest, most complex, and deadliest” in the country’s history.

But Thursday’s milestone announced in the east of the country was overshadowed by the enormous health challenges still facing the vast African nation: the world’s largest measles epidemic, the rising threat of Covid-19 and another new Ebola outbreak in the north.

The health ministry intends to capitalise on the lessons learned and the success factors from this long epidemic to assure the most effective response possible in Mbandaka.

“The health ministry intends to capitalise on the lessons learned and the success factors from this long epidemic to assure the most effective response possible in Mbandaka,” Health Minister Eteni Longondo told reporters.