Congo rolls out drums to celebrate discharge of last Ebola patient

It was all smiles when the last Ebola patient being treated in the Democratic Republic of Congo was discharged to go home today, free of the virus.

The woman was released from a center in Beni town, one of the hotspots of the recent outbreak, which began August 2018.

On Tuesday, the WHO Africa region tweeted a video of health care workers singing and dancing with the patient as many gathered at the center to celebrate her release from the hospital, CNN reports.

The WHO estimates that 2,226 people were killed in the current outbreak in Congo- its tenth since the virus was discovered in 1976.

#HealthHeroes in #Beni celebrating the last #Ebola patient in #DRC to be discharged from a treatment centre! @WHO congratulates all of our partners. We will remain in full response mode for the remainder of the observation period. pic.twitter.com/Hxjir9EwYL

— WHO African Region (@WHOAFRO) March 3, 2020

The 20-months-long outbreak was worsened by armed conflict and violence in Congo's North Kivu and Ituri provinces in which health workers died.

"It is not yet the end of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We must stay vigilant in the coming weeks and beyond," Dr. Moeti said in the statement.