Ebola transmission stamped out in West Africa but vigilance needed

According to the World Health Organization, all known transmission chains of the virus have been stemmed in West Africa, and that there has been no new case of Ebola infection detected in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia for 42 days.

Rick Brennan, the WHO’s chief of emergency risk management, hailed the declaration of the end of the epidemic as an important milestone but said in Geneva that “the job is still not done” due to the persistence of the virus in survivors.

Liberia, which was one of the countries most severely hit by the disease, was first declared free of Ebola in May 2015, but the virus has re-surfaced twice since then, with the most recent flare-up occurring in November.

The statement comes after Liberia, the last West African country to report a case of Ebola, was declared free of the virus.

Addressing the United Nations General Assembly in NY on Wednesday, a day before Liberia was to be declared Ebola free for the third time; Nyenswah noted that health and other social workers over the last six months were trained in Integrated Disease Surveillance, Response and Infection Prevention and Control. Such cases are likely the result of the virus persisting in survivors even after recovery, World Health Organization officials say.

The Ebola outbreak in western Africa that began two years ago has been declared over by the World Health Organization after claiming 11,300 lives.

This was revealed by Dr Alex Gasasira, the WHO Representative in Liberia.

FILE- This is a Friday, Oct. 31, 2014 file photo of hearth workers as they carry the body of an old man from his house as he is suspected of dying from the Ebola virus in the Siah Town area on the outskirts of Monrovia, Liberia. Although Brennan says they are “anticipating more”, the risk of triggering a new outbreak from these flare-ups is low. “We have good news”, Mr Putin said, adding, “We have registered a drug against Ebola, which after the corresponding tests has been shown to be highly effective, more effective than the drugs used worldwide up to now”.

The WHO cautioned that the three countries remain at high risk of additional small outbreaks of Ebola, like the most recent one in Liberia.

The Ebola outbreak highlighted just how little we actually know about the disease and how hard it can be to fully eradicate.

At least 11,315 people died from Ebola: 4,809 deaths were reported in Liberia, while Sierra Leone recorded 3,955 deaths and at least 2,536 people perished in Guinea. “But our work is not done and vigilance is necessary to prevent new outbreaks”, she said. The WHO said Thursday that Ebola can “in rare instances be transmitted to intimate partners”.