The WHO in Africa reports a new case of Ebola reported in a West African country after 27 days of no new confirmed infections.
The case was reported in the village of Suluta in the southeast of the Nzerekore region after it was not reported since March 4. The WHO Regional Office for Africa said in a Twitter message that it continues to support case management, oversight and community engagement.
“We are saddened to learn of an Ebola case reported in Guinea after 27 days without a new confirmed case. We remain on high alert, supporting Guinea’s health surveillance and preparedness efforts in neighboring areas, “said Matshidiso Moet, WHO’s Director for Africa, on Twitter.
Thus, the number of cases of Ebola in Guinea reached 19, including eight reported deaths, which interrupted the countdown, which began on March 24, 2021.
The WHO announced the recovery of the last Ebola patient in the West African country on March 24, thus provoking a countdown to formalize the end of the epidemic in 42 days without a new case.
On February 14, Guinean authorities announced the resumption of the Ebola virus in N’Zerekor.
In response, a vaccination campaign was launched on February 23 after the delivery of 11,000 doses of Ebola Zebrov vaccine.
More than 3,200 people were vaccinated as part of the campaign.
Guinea was one of the three countries most affected by the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014-2016, which was the largest since the virus was first detected in 1976.
In 2014, the disease caused widespread concern, killing more than 11,300 people and infecting approximately 28,600 people when it spread to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Ebola, a tropical fever that first appeared in 1976 in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is transmitted to humans from wild animals.