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WHO: Ebola Outbreak in Gabon, Republic of Congo Under Control VOA News 31 Jan 2002 15:50 UTC 
The World Health Organization says an outbreak of Ebola in Gabon and the Republic of Congo is now under control.
The head of the U.N. agency's infectious disease division, David Heymann, told reporters in Geneva Thursday that he is satisfied the epidemic has calmed. He said the risk is now judged to be over because the 21-day incubation period for the viral disease has ended, without any additional reports of cases.
The Ebola outbreak has killed 34 people in Gabon and the Republic of Congo.
The World Health Organization has continued to monitor the outbreak even though its medical team was forced to pull out of Mekambo, a remote Gabonese town at the heart of the epidemic, in mid-January.
The international medical team withdrew after being threatened by local residents who opposed the team's efforts to stop traditional burial practices, such as washing corpses, which could spread the disease. Ebola is one of the most deadly viral diseases and is spread through bodily fluids.
Some information for this report provided by AP.
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