{"id":279072,"date":"2021-06-19T21:46:14","date_gmt":"2021-06-19T18:46:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/who-declares-an-end-to-second-ebola-outbreak-in-guinea\/"},"modified":"2021-06-19T21:46:14","modified_gmt":"2021-06-19T18:46:14","slug":"who-declares-an-end-to-second-ebola-outbreak-in-guinea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/who-declares-an-end-to-second-ebola-outbreak-in-guinea\/","title":{"rendered":"#WHO declares an end to second Ebola outbreak in Guinea"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#WHO declares an end to second Ebola outbreak in Guinea<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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The World Health Organization on Saturday officially announced the end of Guinea’s second Ebola outbreak which was declared in February and claimed 12 lives.\n <\/p>\n

At 16 confirmed cases and seven probable infections according to WHO figures, the limited size of the latest flare-up has been credited to experience from the 2013-16 epidemic, which killed more than 11,300 people mostly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.<\/p>\n

Just 12 people died this time around.<\/p>\n

“I have the honour of declaring the end of Ebola” in Guinea, WHO official Alfred Ki-Zerbo said at a ceremony in the southeastern Nzerekore region where the disease surfaced at the end of January.<\/p>\n

International rules meant that Guinea had to wait 42 days\u2014twice the virus’ incubation period\u2014without a new case before declaring the epidemic over.<\/p>\n

That wait was over on Friday, weeks after the last person was declared cured on May 8, a senior health ministry official told AFP.<\/p>\n

Health Minister Remy Lamah also declared the outbreak finished “in the name of the head of state” President Alpha Conde.<\/p>\n

Saturday’s event in a health ministry building was attended by around 200 people including local religious and community leaders.<\/p>\n

“We must also thank the communities who pitched in to overcome the disease,” the WHO’s Ki-Zerbo said.<\/p>\n

During last decade’s outbreak, reluctance and outright hostility towards anti-Ebola infection control measures led some people in Guinea’s forested southeast to attack and even kill government employees.<\/p>\n

“Community engagement, effective public health measures and the equitable use of vaccines” had this time been key to overcoming Ebola, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The UN body said it had delivered around 24,000 vaccine doses to Guinea and that 11,000 people at high risk had received shots, including more than 2,800 frontline workers.<\/p>\n

“We’ve beaten Ebola but let’s remain vigilant” read a banner unfurled at Saturday’s ceremony.<\/p>\n

“We must stay alert for a possible resurgence and ensure the expertise in Ebola expands to other health threats such as COVID-19,” WHO Africa director Matshidiso Moeti said.<\/p>\n

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a statement that genetic sequencing showed links between the previous outbreak and the latest epidemic.<\/p>\n

This year’s outbreak could have been caused by “persistent infection in a survivor from the West Africa outbreak” back then, the CDC said, emphasising “the necessity for strong and ongoing survivor programs” as well as more research.<\/p>\n

Ebola causes severe fever and, in the worst cases, unstoppable bleeding. <\/p>\n

It is transmitted through close contact with bodily fluids, and people who live with or care for patients are most at risk.\n <\/p>\n\n

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Guinea to declare end to Ebola epidemic\n <\/p><\/div>\n

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\n \u00a9 2021 AFP<\/p>\n

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Citation<\/strong>:
\n WHO declares an end to second Ebola outbreak in Guinea (2021, June 19)
\n retrieved 19 June 2021
\n from https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/news<\/a>\/2021-06-declares-ebola-outbreak-guinea.html<\/p>\n

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