Guinea has declared an Ebola epidemic, for the first time since 2016. The head of Guinea’s health agency declared the epidemic on Sunday after seven cases were confirmed, including three deaths. Some of them had taken part in the funeral of an individual, who died in late January in Gouecke, the Liberian border. They fell ill with diarrhoea, vomiting and bleeding. The last time Ebola cases emerged in West Africa was between 2013 and 2016. The epidemic that originated in Guinea at the time had claimed over 11,300 lives.
The infected people have been isolated in treatment centres. “Very early this morning, the Conakry laboratory confirmed the presence of the Ebola virus,” Sakoba Keita, head of the National Agency for Health Security told AFP. A second round of tests is being conducted to confirm the Ebola diagnosis. Health workers are working to trace and isolate contacts of the seven who were inflicted.
Health authorities have said the nation will contact WHO and other international health agencies to acquire Ebola vaccines. WHO representative Alfred George Ki-Zerbo said, “We are going to rapidly deploy crucial assets to help Guinea, which already has considerable experience" treating the disease.
In Guinea's neighbour Liberia, President George Weah told health authorities "to immediately engage communities in towns and villages bordering Guinea and increase anti-Ebola measures.”
The Democratic Republic of Congo had declared an Ebola epidemic in June. it was brought under control, with vaccines that were administered to over 40,000 people. between June and November, the nation had reported 55 deaths out of 130 cases. However, one case was reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Sunday in the North Kivu province.
