The Democratic Republic of the Congo has declared an end to its latest Ebola outbreak in the eastern province of North Kivu.

The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed the development on Tuesday, some six weeks after a new case of the deadly virus was confirmed in Beni.

The case, a 46-year old woman who had co-morbidities, died on August 15, 2022 after being hospitalized for 23 days.

The end of the 15th Ebola outbreak in DR Congo comes as Uganda is battling an outbreak which has already killed five people.

The emergence of the virus in Uganda has prompted neighboring countries to heighten preparedness in anticipation of any possible outbreaks within their borders.

The swift end of the latest outbreak in DR Congo has been praised by the WHO, with the agency hailing its Ebola preparedness and response mechanisms.

Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa, urged Uganda to take lessons from DR Congo’s experience to device its own response.

"The Democratic Republic of the Congo has built up impressive expertise in controlling the virus and we can marshal the lessons learnt to beat back the Ebola outbreak in Uganda," said Dr. Moeti.

"While an effective vaccine is not yet available for the Sudan ebola virus, this is just one tool. We can and have brought Ebola to heel with robust contact tracing, detection, isolation of cases and good supportive care."

Uganda has already identified 399 contacts in its active outbreak spanning three districts: Mubende, Kyegegwa and Kassanda.

There are 30 people undergoing care—13 of whom are confirmed to have Ebola and 17 of whom are suspected to have contracted the disease.