In its first wave of killings in 2013-2016, an Ebola outbreak killed 11,300 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone in West Africa.
Guinea's second Ebola outbreak has officially ended, the World Health Organization said on Saturday. The outbreak erupted in the West African province on February 14.
To mark the end of the disease, WHO chief executive Alfred Ki-Zerbo on Saturday said, "I have the right to announce the end of Ebola", reports AFP. Zerbo was speaking at an event in the southeastern part of Nzerekore in the region where the outbreak occurred in late January.(ads2)
In its first wave of killings in 2013-2016, an Ebola outbreak killed 11,300 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone in West Africa. The country is expected to announce the end of Ebola in a West African province over the weekend, Health Minister Remy Lamah said on Saturday.
Lamah, on Thursday, thanked the speed of the health response for controlling the disease.
Lamy has confirmed that the virus will be announced and will end on Saturday - preventing new cases. The health minister was speaking at a WHO-sponsored webinar.
The outbreak was officially confirmed in Guinea this year on February 14, sending shockers and reminders from the first deadly outbreak.
Ebola is a highly contagious hemorrhagic fever that causes a variety of symptoms including fever, vomiting, diarrhea, general pain or body aches and in many cases internal and external bleeding.
The disease is transmitted by close contact with body fluids, and people who live or care for patients are at greater risk.(ads1)
In the second wave, at least 16 people became infected and five died in February in Guinea, the WHO said. The disease is known to have reverted to the forested district of Nzerekore in the southeast of the impoverished tribe.
A new outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in two African countries is sending new jitters to Africa as the continent continues to face the Covid-19 epidemic.
Shortly after the outbreak, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in March urged all African countries to intensify their efforts to monitor borders by mapping the movement of people to identify all potential sources of disease.
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