WHO declares Guinea’s second Ebola outbreak is finally over
Guinea reacted quickly to this year's outbreak, building on its previous experience of fighting the disease.
(FILES) This file photo taken on June 28, 2014 shows a member of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) putting on protective gear at the isolation ward of the Donka Hospital in Conakry, where people infected with the Ebola virus are being treated. – The World Health Organization on June 19, 2021 officially announced the end of Guinea’s second Ebola outbreak which was declared on February 14. It was the second such outbreak in the country since the devastating 2013-2016 Ebola epidemic in West Africa, which left 11,300 dead in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. (Photo by CELLOU BINANI / AFP)
The World Health Organization on Saturday officially announced the end of Guinea’s second Ebola outbreak which was declared on February 14.
“I have the honour of declaring the end of Ebola” in Guinea, WHO official Alfred Ki-Zerbo said at a ceremony in the South Eastern Nzerekore region where the disease surfaced at the end of January.
It was the second such outbreak in the poor country of 13 million people since the devastating 2013-2016 Ebola epidemic in West Africa, which left 11,300 dead in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Ebola causes severe fever and, in the worst cases, unstoppable bleeding.
It is transmitted through close contact with bodily fluids, and people who live with or care for patients are most at risk.
Guinea reacted quickly to this year’s outbreak, however, building on its previous experience of fighting the disease.
Among other measures, the country launched an Ebola vaccination campaign this year with the help of the WHO.
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