WHO declares Sierra Leonne Ebola-Free
WHO declares Sierra Leonne Ebola-Free
The World Health Organization (W.H.O.) has stated that at the beginning of November 2015, 42 days had passed (the length of two incubation cycles) since the last person confirmed to have the disease, cleared a second consecutive blood test. As such, the W.H.O. thus declared Sierra Leone Ebola-Free!
Ebola claimed many lives especially in countries of West Africa, with some of the hardest-hit countries being Liberia and Guinea.
Ebola Status of Liberia and Guinea
Declared Ebola-free in May 2015 but the virus returned two months later. Following another period of 42 days (twice the maximum incubation period) the WHO announced in September that Liberia was Ebola-free for the second time in September 2015, after another 42 days with no new cases of reported Ebola sufferers. [
Achieved objective 1 of the phase 3 response framework: to interrupt all remaining chains of Ebola virus transmission. [
- Guinea saw three new confirmed cases of Ebola in the last week of October 2015.
- The country is still struggling eradicate the deadly virus.
What’s next for Sierra Leone now?
Sierra Leone will enters a state of “enhanced surveillance”, a period of 90 days during which health services will continue to be provided as and when needed. This enhanced surveillance period is scheduled to conclude on 5 February 2016.
Don’t celebrate as yet…!
There is no known cure for Ebola. The disease is fatal in patients 60 % of the time when it is caught early, and 90 % when it is discovered too late. During the time that the epidemic reached its peak, all that health workers could do for Ebola sufferers was to alleviate their symptoms by tracking transmission chains in an attempt to contain the virus, and wait for the outbreak to recede.
Whilst we do breathe a sigh of relief that in Sierra Leone on Saturday many remain weary of a potential resurgence of the disease, as was the case in Liberia.
Interested in finding out more information? Click on the links below:
Download W.H.O Ebola Situation Report Nov 2015!
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