Guinea has been declared free from transmission of Ebola, the World Health Organization said Tuesday, marking a milestone for the West African country where the original Ebola chain of transmission began two years ago leading to the largest epidemic in history.
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The UN’s health agency on Tuesday declared Guinea’s Ebola outbreak over two years after it emerged, spreading death across west Africa and pushing the region’s worst-hit communities to the brink of collapse.
According to CNN, declaration was made because 42 days have passed since the last person confirmed to have Ebola tested negative for the second time.
In total, more than 28,600 people worldwide were stricken with Ebola during the outbreak, according to WHO.
President Alpha Conde is expected at an official celebration in Conakry on Wednesday, flanked by representatives from donor countries and dozens of organisations, from Doctors without Borders to the Red Cross, that were frontline responders in the crisis. “They were more likely to die if infected”, stressed UNICEF Guinea Representative Mohamed Ag Ayoya.
Liberia has lost more than 4 800 people but could be declared virus-free in January.
Now the nation will begin its 90-day period of enhanced surveillance as health care workers remain vigilant for any new cases of Ebola.
“My colleagues and I at the World Bank Group congratulate the government and people of Guinea on reaching this important milestone”.
Camara, 26, was also stricken with the disease, in March of 2014.
“From 2013 to 2015, Guineans suffered, they lived and survived, they endured, they were stigmatised, rejected, even humiliated because of this disease, which leapt out of nowhere”.
“The coming months will be absolutely critical”, said Dr Bruce Aylward from the WHO’s Ebola response team.
WHO says 2016 will see the three most-affected countries implement a full health sector recovery agenda to restart and strengthen key public health programmes, especially maternal and child health, while continuing to maintain the capacity to detect, prevent and respond to any flare-up of Ebola. “The time-limited persistence of virus in survivors which may give rise to new Ebola flares in 2016 makes it imperative that partners continue to support these countries”.
“We definitely can not let our guard down”, said Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “We hope that all the dead, and the victims of this disease will be sacrifices to the Guinean nation so that no other epidemic touches us”, said survivor Ibrahima Sow.
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Liberia, for instance, was declared Ebola-free back in September, but has had two cases crop up since then.
