The World Health Organisation on Tuesday announced that the Ebola epidemic that killed thousands of people in West Africa is no longer is a “public health emergency of international concern”, reported The New York Times.

Margaret Chan, director-general of the WHO made the announcement after an emergency committee, in its recommendation, said West African countries had the ability to contain the small number of new cases that continued to arise, and that “the likelihood of international spread is low.”

Chan also asked countries to immediately lift travel bans and other restrictions on interactions with Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone – the countries that saw the highest number of Ebola cases. Since the outbreak in December 2013, more than 11,300 people have been killed by the virus in these three countries, and at least 28,000 people have been ill.