TRACKING EMERGING VIRUSES – October 21, 2025 – EBOLA
“The World Health Organization (WHO) reported today that the last Ebola patient in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was discharged today. No new cases have been reported since 25 September.
This starts the 42-day countdown to declaring the outbreak over if no further cases are confirmed. If no new cases are detected, the outbreak will be declared over in early December 2025.
In total, 64 cases (53 confirmed and 11 probable) have been reported since the outbreak was declared on 4 September in Bulape health zone, in Kasai Province.
“The recovery of the last patient just six weeks after the outbreak was declared is a remarkable achievement that shows how strong partnership, national expertise and determination have contributed to overcoming challenges to save and protect lives,” said Dr Mohamed Janabi, WHO Regional Director for Africa.” (1)
Congo’s Last Ebola Patient Discharged as Outbreak Nears End, By Janice Kew, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-10-19/congo-s-last-ebola-patient-discharged-as-outbreak-nears-end
“Senior Ministry of Health officials from twelve (12) African countries convened in Monrovia, Liberia, for a Regional High-Level Workshop on Preventive Ebola Vaccination, reaffirming their shared commitment to strengthening regional preparedness by protecting healthcare and frontline workers and other at-risk groups from Ebola virus disease (EVD) through preventive vaccination under the theme “Strengthening the Frontlines – Prepare Today, Protect Tomorrow.” The Government of Liberia, in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), and with financial support from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, hosted the two-day event, which united Ministries of Health, technical experts, and key partners from 12 African nations — Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Cameroon, Republic of Congo, Mali, Senegal, Zambia, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, and South Sudan. The selected countries were chosen based on epidemiologic risk, either having experienced Ebola outbreaks in the past or sharing borders with countries with previous outbreaks.”
“Throughout the two-day workshop, participants exchanged experiences, reviewed lessons from previous Ebola outbreaks, and discussed operational strategies for preventive vaccination. The workshop reaffirmed preventive Ebola vaccination as a regional preparedness priority protecting health workers, reducing nosocomial amplification, and strengthening immunization systems.
By the close of the meeting on 9th October 2025, all 12 participating countries committed to advance global health security by accelerating preventive Ebola vaccination in 2026.” (2)
“Hospital tests emergency response plans
Sydney Local Health District disaster manager Caren Friend said the practice run-through was a multi-agency exercise aimed at testing emergency response plans.
“Firstly, to make sure we’re prepared … and our staff are current in their knowledge,” she said.
“But also to make sure we’re doing the right thing — it gives us a little bit of peace of mind as well.”
The exercise started when the woman walked into Concord Hospital’s emergency room on Friday morning and told the triage nurse she had fever, aches, pains and bleeding gums.” (3)
1.Ebola outbreak reaches 42-day countdown, by Robert Herriman, https://outbreaknewstoday.substack.com/p/ebola-outbreak-reaches-42-day-countdown
2.Prepare today, protect tomorrow: African countries unite for preventive Ebola vaccination at a summit in Liberia., https://www.afro.who.int/countries/liberia/news/prepare-today-protect-tomorrow-african-countries-unite-preventive-ebola-vaccination-summit-liberia
3.Concord Hospital’s Ebola practice run-through tests department’s emergency response plans, By Fiona Willan, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-11/hazmat-ebola-emergency-practice-exercise-at-sydney-hospital/105877344
curated by Jonathan M. Metsch, Dr.P.H.
Clinical Professor of Environmental Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai