The DR Congo government has declared that the 25-month measles outbreak that killed more than 7,000 children aged under five is over, according to media reports. It is reported that the outbreak was countered by mass vaccination where millions of children and infants were immunised. DR Congo Health Minister Eteni Longondo told a news conference on Tuesday that: We can say that measles [in the DRC] no longer exists. Measles attacks mainly children and its most serious complications include blindness, brain swelling, diarrhoea, and severe respiratory infections. The measles epidemic was unfolding at [a] low level but was the deadliest. It carried off more than 7,000 of our children, Longondo said, adding that routine vaccinations will continue so as to prevent the virus from bouncing back. The first cases of measles in the latest outbreak were recorded in June 2018. As of January this year, the World Health Organization recorded more than 335,000 suspected cases of the disease, of which 6,362 were fatal. The DR Congo has recorded 9,891 cases of coronavirus, of which 251 were fatal. The DR Congo announcement came on the day the WHO declared that the wild poliovirus was eradicated from Africa.
