“The end of Ebola transmission in west Africa is testament to what we can achieve when multilateralism works as it should, bringing the global community to work alongside national governments in caring for their people”, he told a General Assembly briefing on Wednesday.
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The announcement came 42 days after the last Ebola cases in Liberia were tested negative.
Sierra Leone officially ended its endemic in November 2015, while Guinea was declared free of Ebola in late December – after nearly two years of deaths and economic woes caused by the disease.
Liberia recorded more than 10,700 cases and 4,800 deaths.
The real toll is suspected to be much higher, with many Ebola deaths believed to have gone unreported. Liberian authorities on Tuesday quarantined the area where the corpse of the boy was found, sparking fears this West African country could face another outbreak of the disease almost two months after being declared Ebola-free. The infection is transmitted by direct contact with the blood, body fluids and tissues of infected animals or people. Symptoms include sudden onset of fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat.
The “end of active transmission” was declared, after 42 days without a new case in Liberia.
Guinean singer Sia Tolno perfoms at a concert gathering artists from across Africa to celebrate Guin …
Aylward, the WHO’s Special Representative for Ebola Response. Cases also popped up in Mali, Senegal and Nigeria though transmission chains there were quickly shut down. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said in December some 22,000 had orphaned as a result of the outbreak. The disease later spread into neighboring Liberia and Sierra Leone.
On the health front, many painful lessons have been learned. Liberia’s experience in combating two flare-ups has shown the resilience and capacity of the affected countries to reactivate emergency response mechanisms and contain the virus.
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Earlier in the day, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia had developed and registered a highly-effective vaccine against the deadly Ebola virus.
