Guinea finally declared free of Ebola virus

The World Health Organization announced on Tuesday that Guinea is free of Ebola virus transmission for the first time since the epidemic was detected in March 2014.

“This is the first time that all three countries – Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone – have stopped the original chains of transmission that were responsible for starting this devastating outbreak two years ago”, said Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa.

The WHO earlier reported that it has not seen any new case of Ebola in last about 42 days, a time period in two incubation cycles for the disease.

AP noted that Guinea was the last to struggle to stamp out the deadly disease, until Liberia saw a new case in November.

“Still, we must remain vigilant to stay at zero cases, and continue to support Guinea as it contends with the enormous human and economic costs of Ebola”.

A range of top African musicians, including Youssou N’Dour and Mory Kante, will take to the stage for a “memorial” concert – entitled “Bye-bye, au revoir Ebola” in the francophone country.

“The World Bank Group is committed to supporting Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone as they work to bring this deadly epidemic to an end, rebuild their economies and strengthen their health systems”.

Guinea has now entered a 90-day period of enhanced surveillance to ensure that any new cases are found quickly before the disease can spread to other people. And as the scientific community’s understanding of Ebola has grown during the crisis, we have learned that it is more tenacious than we once thought – with its ability to disappear from our blood while still lurking in other places, such as the eye and semen, where it can come back and cause havoc again.

Frontline workers have also had to combat the rumour mill, entrenched denial, fear of Ebola stigma and resistance to confinement measures deemed authoritarian or unreasonable.

Strong recent growth has been curtailed in Guinea and while Liberia has resumed growth, Sierra Leone is facing a severe recession, according to the World Bank, which has mobilised $1.62 billion for Ebola response and recovery efforts.

They also had to persuade people to abandon funeral traditions whereby mourners touch the body of their loved one – a potent pathway to infection.

“After I got better, the hardest thing was to make people welcome me”.