West Africa — There are two new cases of Ebola in Guinea, according to a government statement issued on Thursday. Hours before, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that Sierra Leone has completely eradicated the fatal illness from the country.
A spokesman for the Guinea government said on Thursday that physicians tested four people from Korokpara, and two of them tested positive for Ebola. Recently, three family members of the sick people died from diarrhea and vomiting, according to the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
The WHO has already sent a team to investigate the origin of these two new cases in order to isolate, vaccinate and monitor people who could have been in contact with them. The two patients, a 5-year-old child and his mother, are being taken care in a treatment center of the Alliance for International Medical Action in Nzerekore.
The United Nations children’s agency (UNICEF) is also providing necessary equipment and medicine to the team. According to Augustin Augier of ALIMA, experts are currently preparing the installations to receive more patients, and more staff from Paris will arrive at the region soon.
On the other hand, a government spokesman, Damantang Albert Camara, said that vaccines have been taken to the area to avoid new infections. Nzerekore was among the first regions that were impacted by the 2013’s Ebola outbreak.
Ebola virus disease, which presents symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, muscle pain, vomiting, and others, has affected more than 28,500 people, of which 11,300 have died, since a major Ebola outbreak started in December 2013 in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Fortunately, the epidemic can be controlled since health researchers and scientists have developed vaccines to fight the disease. However, the risk of new Ebola outbreaks could be present for an undefined period of time because Ebola can stay in the eyes, central nervous system and bodily fluids of survivors, as explained by the WHO on Thursday.
WHO statement about Ebola in Sierra Leone: some regions “are still at risk of Ebola flare-ups”
The World Health Organization said on Thursday that Ebola has been eradicated from the country, where 3,590 people have died since 2013 as a consequence of it. However, strict surveillance needs to be maintained, because the virus can persist in some survivors.
“WHO continues to stress that Sierra Leone, as well as Liberia and Guinea, are still at risk of Ebola flare-ups, largely due to virus persistence in some survivors, and must remain on high alert and ready to respond.” Said the WHO in a Thursday statement.
Source: Thomson Reutersn Foundation