(CNN) The Democratic Republic of Congo's battle against the world's second-deadliest Ebola outbreak on record is officially over, the country's health minister, Eteni Longondo, announced Thursday. Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, World Health Organization regional director for Africa, said the announcement was made after no new cases were reported 42 days since the last survivor tested negative for the virus. "It wasn't easy and at times it seemed like a mission impossible," Moeti said. Some 16,000 frontline workers battled for almost two years against the country's 10th outbreak, Moeti said. Despite successfully deploying two separate vaccines , the outbreak claimed more than 2,200 lives, with the response continually hampered by community mistrust and violence in the country's volatile northeastern provinces.

Source: CNN June 25, 2020 20:37 UTC