“Today the World Health Organisation declares the end of the most recent outbreak of Ebola virus disease in Liberia and says all known chains of transmission have been stopped in West Africa”, the United Nations health agency announced in Geneva.
Advertisement
The tests reinforce concerns about flare-ups of the virus that has killed more than 11,300 people since 2013, nearly all of which were in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia.
The country had suffered the world’s deadliest outbreak over the past two years, as survivors can carry the virus for many months and could pass it on.
So much was needed and so much was accomplished by national authorities, heroic health workers, civil society, local and global organizations and generous partners.But, she added, our work is not done and vigilance is necessary to prevent new outbreaks.Officials also warned of the crucial days and weeks ahead, when the possibility of a flare-up remains high.We are now at a critical period in the Ebola epidemic as we move from managing cases and patients to managing the residual risk of new infections, said Bruce Aylward, WHOs special representative for the Ebola response.
In May 2015, World Health Organization declared Liberia as the first country free of Ebola transmissions.
Wednesday’s announcement came 42 days after the last case was confirmed in Liberia, the last of three West African countries with active transmission of the virus. Small flare-ups of the disease are likely in the three countries that were hardest hit: Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
Ebola virus is highly contagious, being transferred through all bodily fluids – even sweat on an infected person’s skin.
“As long as there is infectious virus that continues to hide out… that is a potential for a reignition of this outbreak, especially if we relax infection control and prevention”.
Fighting an Ebola epidemic is like putting out one fire only to discover that spreading embers have ignited others.
“Throughout the epidemic, I witnessed how communities were ripped apart”, Hilde de Clerck, a Doctors Without Borders epidemiologist who worked in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, said in a news release. The ministry of health is still carrying out Ebola tests on dead bodies before burial, and remains on the lookout for any suspicious cases. It devastated families, communities and the economic systems of all three countries.
Advertisement
“We need to remain engaged”, Peter Graaff, WHO director responsible for Ebola response, told reporters.
