WHO says no new Ebola cases in Goma, vaccinates over 1,300

The World Health Organisation has vaccinatedover1,300peoplewhopotentially came into contact with theEbolavirus in the Congolese city ofGoma, it said on Sunday, helping contain what many feared would be a rapid spread in an urban centre.

A year-longEbolaoutbreak in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has killed at least 1,800, the second biggest toll ever, and efforts to contain the virus have been hobbled by militia violence and some local resistance to outside interference.

Goma, a lakeside city of nearly 2 million people on the Rwandan border, has been on high alertoverthe past week after a gold miner with a large family contaminated several people before dying himself.

"Ongoing vaccination activities have reached the majority (98%) of eligible contacts, and 1,314 contacts, contacts of contacts and frontline workers (have been) vaccinated to date," the WHOsaid in a statement on Sunday.

Nonewconfirmedcaseshave been reported inGomasince theWHO's last report on Aug. 2.

The use of an experimentalEbolavaccine, developed by Merck, has proven to be a key weapon against the hemorrhagic fever, although reaching contacts in rural areas beset by violence has proven difficult.

The vaccine's success has been most obvious in cities where contacts can be easier to trace, helping avoid the widespread havoc seen in densely populated areas during a 2013-2016 outbreak in West Africa that killedover11,000 people.