The UN World Health Organization (WHO) says the world's most recent Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is over.  Four people died and four patients survived, out of some 600 people who had contact with the killer virus.

Health officials made the call after two 21-day incubation cycles of the virus complete without any new infections.  The countdown started after the last confirmed patient in the epicenter of the outbreak, Bas-Uele province, tested negative for Ebola.

"With the end of this epidemic, DRC has once again proved to the world that we can control the very deadly Ebola virus if we respond early in a coordinated and efficient way," said WHO director-general Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Ebola's eighth outbreak since 1976 was brought to a quick halt because health services and government sprang into action very quickly.  In April, a 45-year old man was the first case.  A person caring for him and the taxi diver who brought him to hospital were then infected.  All three died in hospital.  Officials wasted no time in mobilizing epidemiologists, biologists, and sanitation specialists. 

It was a sharp contrast to 2014 when WHO was criticized for reacting too slowly to the West African Ebola Epidemic, which raced through Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea, killing more tan 11,300 people before it ended in 2016.