New Delhi (NVI): Guinea has declared a new Ebola virus outbreak, with seven people infected and three dead in the West African country, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The first resurgence of the Ebola virus in Guinea since the world’s worst outbreak between 2014-2016, with 28,000 cases of disease, including 11,000 deaths.
In a statement, WHO Africa said that the outbreak was declared in the rural community of Gouéké in N’Zerekore prefecture after three Ebola cases were confirmed by the national laboratory, marking the first time the disease has been reported in the country since an outbreak ended in 2016.
“Initial investigations found that a nurse from the local health facility died on the 28 January. Following her burial, 6 people who attended the funeral reported Ebola-like symptoms and two of them have died, while the other four have been hospitalized,” it added.
The organization said that samples of the confirmed cases have been sent to the InstitutPasteur in Senegal for a full genome sequencing to identify the strain of the Ebola virus.
Guinea was one of the three most-affected countries in the 2014–2016 West Africa Ebola outbreak which was the largest since the virus was first discovered in 1976.
“It’s a huge concern to see the resurgence of Ebola in Guinea, a country which has already suffered so much from the disease. However, banking on the expertise and experience built during the previous outbreak, health teams in Guinea are on the move to quickly trace the path of the virus and curb further infections,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa.
“WHO is also supporting the authorities to set up testing, contact-tracing and treatment structures and to bring the overall response to full speed, Moeti added.
Meanwhile, WHO staff are already on the ground, assisting surveillance, and infection prevention and control efforts in the region.
The personnel of UN agency are also reaching out to communities to ensure they take a key role in the response. In addition, WHO is also helping Guinea procure the Ebola vaccine which has proven instrumental in controlling outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Furthermore, as the epicentre of the current outbreak in a border area, WHO is already working with health authorities in Liberia and Sierra Leone to beef up community surveillance of cases in their border districts as well as strengthening their capacity to test for cases and conduct surveillance in health facilities, the statement said.
“WHO is also reaching out to Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, Senegal and other countries at risk in the sub-region,” it added.
Earlier in February, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) authorities also reported a resurgence of the Ebola in the eastern part of the Central African country, more than two months after the end of the last outbreak.
-RJV
