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From Our Own Correspondent: DRC emerges from Ebola

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DRC emerges from Ebola

18/04/2020 GMT

BBC World Service - From Our Own Correspondent, DRC emerges from Ebola

A visit to what was once the centre of the Ebola epidemic

A visit to the former Ebola treatment centres in Democratic Republic of Congo; Sri Lanka’s survivors one year on from the bombing and Georgia’s Orthodox priests defy lockdown.

Stories from Democratic Republic of Congo, Sri Lanka, Georgia… and New York in the 1900s. 

The Ebola epidemic in DRC has killed thousands of people since the first recorded case in August 2018. Last weekend, the World Health Organisation was on the cusp of declaring it Ebola free, but a few new cases have emerged. Peter Yeung travelled to what was once the epicentre of the Ebola outbreak at its peak. He met the frontline healthcare workers who risked their lives and have helped to wipe out the deadly disease.

One year on from the brutal attacks by a group of Islamist extremists on churches and hotels in Sri Lanka, which killed 270 people, Jane Corbin speaks to survivors. They tell the story of what happened to them and their families, and what they are doing to help Sri Lanka rebuild.

When the first cases of coronavirus emerged in Georgia, its Prime Minister, Giorgi Gakharia responded swiftly with stringent measures – a lockdown was imposed, flights abroad were halted and schools, universities and nurseries were closed. Yet this weekend, leaders of the Orthodox church plan to proceed with their Easter services, flouting social distancing measures. Rayhan Demytrie has watched tension mount between the church and the state.

Finally, the cautionary tale of Typhoid Mary – a young woman from Ireland who moved to New York in the early 1900s – and was an asymptomatic carrier of Typhoid. She worked in the kitchens of several households in New York, and the disease duly spread from one family to the next. Kevin Connolly recalls what happened next.

(Correction: In the broadcast version of this report typhoid is mistakenly referred to as a virus not a bacteria)

(Image: Healthcare workers outside the Ebola treatment centre in Beni, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Credit: Sally Hayden/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

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