In a statement, World Health Organization said, “more flare-ups are expected” and “strong surveillance and response systems will be critical in the months to come”.
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Sierra Leone was declared free of the virus on 7th November, but the region as a whole was declared clear when Liberia was pronounced Ebola-free on Thursday.
A country is declared free of Ebola after 42 days (two 21-day incubation cycles of the virus) after the last confirmed patient tested negative for the virus two times.
This was revealed by Dr Alex Gasasira, the WHO Representative in Liberia. The rapid cessation of the flare-up is a concrete demonstration of Liberia’s strengthened national capacity to manage Ebola outbreaks.
“While this is an important milestone and a very important step forward, we have to say that the job is still not done”, said Rick Brennan, WHO director of emergency risk assessment and humanitarian response, at a news conference in Geneva, The Associated Press reported. Ten such flare-ups have been reported across the three countries in the last nine months: four in Liberia, three in Guinea, and three in Sierra Leone.
In a briefing before the United Nations General Assembly in New York City yesterday, WHO Director-General Margaret Chan, MD, MPH, said the outbreak disrupted all aspects of life in the three affected countries but showed the power of worldwide solidarity. It is a collective effort for the worldwide community and the people of Liberia for being once more Ebola-free. But after receiving necessary care, both recovered and were released from the ETU on December 3rd, as more than 165 contacts were identified and closely monitored but no new infections were detected.
She urged that Vigilance needs to be maintained to curtail further outbreak. In 2013, for example, member states slashed the WHO’s outbreak and crisis response budget by 51 per cent for the following two years, leading to substantial staff cuts, his study of the WHO’s Ebola response found.
At its peak, it devastated Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, with bodies piling up in the streets and overwhelmed hospitals recording hundreds of new cases a week.
The World Health Organization announced Thursday that the Ebola epidemic in West Africa is over – for now.
UNICEF highlighted the importance of providing children living in these three countries, many of whom have been taken in by immediate or extended family, with cash grants, school support, clothing and food.
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“Today is a day of celebration and relief that this outbreak is finally over”, said Joanne Liu, MSF’s worldwide president. This Ebola response was not limited by lack of worldwide means but by a lack of political will to rapidly deploy assistance to help communities.
