Passport Health logo
canada flag
Afficher en français
VACCINATIONS|FIND A TRAVEL CLINIC|ADVICE
  • Home
    • About
        • Company History
        • Careers
        • Contact Us
        • Customer Feedback
        • FAQ
        • Mission Statement
        • Privacy Policy
        • Blog
    • Close
  • Destination Advice
    • Top Destinations
        • Brazil
        • China
        • Costa Rica
        • India
        • Kenya
        • Peru
        • Philippines
        • South Africa
        • Thailand
        • Vietnam
    • Destination Advice
          • Afghanistan
          • Albania
          • Algeria
          • American Samoa
          • Andorra
          • Angola
          • Anguilla
          • Antarctica
          • Antigua and Barbuda
          • Argentina
          • Armenia
          • Aruba
          • Australia
          • Austria
          • Azerbaijan
          • Azores
          • Bahamas
          • Bahrain
          • Balearics
          • Bangladesh
          • Barbados
          • Belarus
          • Belgium
          • Belize
          • Benin
          • Bermuda
          • Bhutan
          • Bolivia
          • Bonaire
          • Bora Bora
          • Bosnia
          • Botswana
          • Brazil
          • British Virgin Islands
          • Brunei
          • Bulgaria
          • Burkina Faso
          • Burundi
          • Cambodia
          • Cameroon
          • Canada
          • Canary Islands
          • Cape Verde
          • Cayman Islands
          • Central African Republic
          • Chad
          • Chile
          • China
          • Christmas Island
          • Cocos (Keeling) Islands
          • Colombia
          • Comoros
          • Cook Islands
          • Costa Rica
          • Cote d'Ivoire
          • Croatia
          • Cuba
          • Curacao
          • Cyprus
          • Czechia
          • Democratic Republic of the Congo
          • Denmark
          • Djibouti
          • Dominica
          • Dominican Republic
          • East Timor
          • Easter Island
          • Ecuador
          • Egypt
          • El Salvador
          • Equatorial Guinea
          • Eritrea
          • Estonia
          • Eswatini
          • Ethiopia
          • Falkland Islands
          • Faroe Islands
          • Fiji
          • Finland
          • France
          • French Guiana
          • French Polynesia
          • Gabon
          • Gambia
          • Georgia
          • Germany
          • Ghana
          • Gibraltar
          • Greece
          • Greenland
          • Grenada
          • Guadeloupe
          • Guam
          • Guatemala
          • Guinea-Bissau
          • Guinea
          • Guyana
          • Haiti
          • Hawaii
          • Honduras
          • Hong Kong
          • Hungary
          • Ibiza
          • Iceland
          • India
          • Indonesia
          • Iran
          • Iraq
          • Ireland
          • Israel
          • Italy
          • Jamaica
          • Japan
          • Jordan
          • Kazakhstan
          • Kenya
          • Kiribati
          • Kosovo
          • Kuwait
          • Kyrgyzstan
          • Laos
          • Latvia
          • Lebanon
          • Lesotho
          • Liberia
          • Libya
          • Liechtenstein
          • Lithuania
          • Luxembourg
          • Macao
          • Madagascar
          • Madeira Islands
          • Malawi
          • Malaysia
          • Maldives
          • Mali
          • Malta
          • Marshall Islands
          • Martinique
          • Mauritania
          • Mauritius
          • Mayotte
          • Mexico
          • Micronesia
          • Moldova
          • Monaco
          • Mongolia
          • Montenegro
          • Montserrat
          • Morocco
          • Mozambique
          • Myanmar
          • Namibia
          • Nauru
          • Nepal
          • Netherlands
          • New Caledonia
          • New Zealand
          • Nicaragua
          • Niger
          • Nigeria
          • Niue
          • Norfolk Island
          • North Korea
          • North Macedonia
          • Northern Mariana Islands
          • Norway
          • Oman
          • Pakistan
          • Palau
          • Palestinian Territories
          • Panama
          • Papua New Guinea
          • Paraguay
          • Peru
          • Philippines
          • Pitcairn Islands
          • Poland
          • Portugal
          • Puerto Rico
          • Qatar
          • Republic of the Congo
          • Réunion
          • Romania
          • Russia
          • Rwanda
          • Saba
          • Saint Barthelemy
          • Saint Helena
          • Saint Kitts and Nevis
          • Saint Lucia
          • Saint Martin
          • Saint Pierre-et-Miquelon
          • Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
          • Samoa
          • San Marino
          • Sao Tome and Principe
          • Saudi Arabia
          • Senegal
          • Serbia
          • Seychelles
          • Sierra Leone
          • Singapore
          • Sint Eustatius
          • Slovakia
          • Slovenia
          • Solomon Islands
          • Somalia
          • South Africa
          • South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
          • South Korea
          • South Sudan
          • Spain
          • Sri Lanka
          • Sudan
          • Suriname
          • Sweden
          • Switzerland
          • Syria
          • Tahiti
          • Taiwan
          • Tajikistan
          • Tanzania
          • Thailand
          • Togo
          • Tokelau
          • Tonga
          • Trinidad and Tobago
          • Tunisia
          • Türkiye
          • Turkmenistan
          • Turks and Caicos Islands
          • Tuvalu
          • U.S. Virgin Islands
          • Uganda
          • Ukraine
          • United Arab Emirates
          • United Kingdom
          • United States
          • Uruguay
          • Uzbekistan
          • Vanuatu
          • Vatican
          • Venezuela
          • Vietnam
          • Wake Island
          • Western Sahara
          • Yemen
          • Zambia
          • Zimbabwe
    • Close
  • Travel Medicine
    • Travel Medical Services
        • Vaccines for Travel
        • Travel Health Consulting
        • Travellers’ Diarrhea Kits
        • Dengue Fever Prevention
        • Malaria Medication
        • Zika Virus Prevention
        • Ebola Virus
        • Coronavirus
    • Close
  • Vaccinations
    • Key Travel Vaccines
      • Typhoid
      • Yellow Fever
      • Hepatitis A
      • Rabies
      • Japanese Encephalitis
      • Drug Identification Numbers (DIN)
    • Other Travel Vaccines
      • Cholera (Dukoral)
      • Chikungunya
      • Hepatitis B
      • Malaria Information
      • Meningitis
      • Polio
    • Routine Vaccinations
      • Tetanus-Diphtheria-Pertussis
      • Measles – Mumps – Rubella (MMR)
      • Pneumonia
      • Shingles
      • Influenza (The Flu)
    • Close
  • Other Services
    • Additional Services
      • TB Tests
      • Physician Referral Program
    • Close
  • For Employers
    • Corporate Wellness Solutions
      • Travel Medicine & Vaccinations
      • Onsite Flu Clinics
      • Onsite Vaccination Clinics
      • Biometric Screenings
      • Vaccine Credentialing
    • Close
  • Locations
        • Ontario
          Barrie Travel Clinic
          Brampton Travel Clinic
          Carlington - Ottawa Travel Clinic
          Downtown - Ottawa Travel Clinic
          Etobicoke Travel Clinic
          Hamilton Travel Clinic
          Kingston Travel Clinic
          Kitchener Travel Clinic
          London Travel Clinic
          Markham Travel Clinic
          Mississauga Travel Clinic
          North York Travel Clinic
          Oakville Travel Clinic
          Richmond Hill Travel Clinic
          St. Catharines Travel Clinic
          Toronto Travel Clinic
          Vaughan Travel Clinic
          Whitby Travel Clinic
          Yorkville Travel Clinic
        • Alberta
          Chinook - Calgary Travel Clinic
          Downtown Calgary Travel Clinic
          Downtown Edmonton Travel Clinic
          Southeast Edmonton Travel Clinic
          St. Albert Travel Clinic
        • British Columbia
          Burnaby Travel Clinic
          Downtown Vancouver Travel Clinic
          North Vancouver Travel Clinic
          Richmond Travel Clinic
          Surrey Travel Clinic
        • Quebec
          Clinique Santé-Voyage Centre-Ville Montréal
          Clinique Santé-Voyage Laval
          Clinique Santé-Voyage Pointe-Claire
          Clinique Santé-Voyage Ville de Québec
          Clinique Santé-Voyage Westmount
    • Close

Ebola Outbreak is Still an Emergency in the DRC

November 20, 2019 by Caitlin Hartwyk

Even as the case numbers decrease, Ebola is still an emergency across the DRC.

This August, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) declared their 10th Ebola outbreak. The DRC has had nine other Ebola virus outbreaks over the course of 40 years. From August to November of this year, there have been 2,194 deaths in the DRC due to Ebola.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said in October that cases are decreasing, but that doesn’t mean the outbreak is finished.

The situation is still an official emergency in the DRC because outbreaks continue to pop up in the northeast of the country. It’s this area that is still being affected the worst by Ebola. The outbreak has also put nearby countries at risk, spreading to Uganda in July.

Throughout August, there was anywhere between 75 and 100 new cases of Ebola each week in DRC, although, the numbers started dropping as the year continued. The region started to see just under 50 new cases a week in November.

As of November 18, there are 3,296 cases of Ebola in DRC and of those, 3,178 are confirmed cases.

Since October, European Medicines Agency has been backing Merck’s experimental Ebola vaccine. The Ebola vaccine was recently prequalified by the WHO, which is a critical step in getting the vaccination licensed. When medicine and vaccinations prequalify by WHO standards, this means they are safe to use, good quality, and efficient.

With a vaccine soon available, we’ll finally have an official defense for the virus. Thousands of lives can be saved and even more thousands of Ebola cases prevented once the vaccine is licensed and administered.

Merck and Co. Inc, a U.S. drug company, is the company making the Ebola vaccine called Ervebo. The vaccine has been used in emergency situations to prevent the spread of Ebola in the DRC even while not licensed.

Since the vaccine was already prequalified by the WHO, it is now waiting approval by U.S. health regulators. A decision from this group is expected by the beginning of next year.

The WHO isn’t the only needed approval for such a vaccine. Merck received approval from the European Commission to market its vaccine in Europe on November 11.

Such a step is just one more breakthrough in the fight against Ebola.

The vaccine works by exposing a form of the Ebola virus to the body that can’t cause an infection. By exposing the body to a form of the virus that cannot cause an infection, it allows the body to build an immunity against the virus. It has been approved for those who are 18 years old or older.

Are you traveling to the DRC or any nearby countries? Passport Health can help you with all your travel and health needs. Give us a call at and speak to a travel health nurse, or book an appointment online now.

Did you know an Ebola vaccine was this close to approval? Let us know in the comments, or via Facebook and Twitter.

Written for Passport Health by Elle Johnson. Elle Johnson is a senior multimedia journalism student at the University of South Carolina. Johnson is graduating with a bachelor’s degree in December and is a freelance writer in her free time.

Filed Under: General Posts

About Us

Passport Health's blog provides travelers and travel enthusiasts with a variety of news and features. We focus on bringing the most interesting and relevant stories right to our readers. Topics range from the vaccines needed for a destination to updates on recent outbreaks, travel advice and much more. Feel free to check out some of our most popular posts, linked in the sidebar, or our most recent posts below

Recent Blog Posts

  • Ruthless Marburg Outbreak in Tanzania: Its Spread and Survival Rate
  • New Research Shows How Oysters Can Help Destroy Hazardous Bacteria
  • Enormous Risk as Childhood Vaccinations Plummet: Results could be Devastating
  • New Research on Chronic Wasting Disease: A Growing Threat

Blog Archives

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • PIPEDA Policy and Consent Form
  • Privacy Policy
  • Automatic Data Collection Statement
  • Sitemap
Schedule Your Appointment
Questions? Please call or E-mail Us
Connect With Us:
Passport Health Canada on Facebook
Passport Health on Twitter
Passport Health on YouTube
Passport Health on Instagram
Passport Health on Linked In
Passport Health Feed

Passport Health is an Outlier business Passport Health es una empresa que pertenece al grupo Outlier Passport Health est une entreprise du groupe Outlier Copyright © 2025

This website or its third-party tools use cookies to improve functionality and performance. By continuing to browse this site, you are consenting to the use of cookies illustrated in our automatic data collection statement.Accept