Last Known Ebola Case in Guinea Recovers from the Virus: MSF

The World Health Organization (WHO) statistics suggest that the Ebola epidemic has left 11,300 dead, mainly in the west African states of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Last week the WHO declared Sierra Leone to be Ebola free. Liberia was declared to have beaten the virus in September 2015. Starting the countdown to the end of the epidemic, the last known Ebola case in Guinea, a three-week old girl, has recovered from the virus, reported the medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

An official announcement of the end of Ebola, which has claimed 2,500 lives throughout the country, is still some way off as a period of 42 Ebola-free days, twice the incubation period of the virus, is required.

‘The last known Ebola case in Guinea, a three-week old girl, has recovered from the virus. But an official announcement of the end of Ebola is still some way off as a period of 42 Ebola-free days, twice the incubation period of the virus, is required. Health authorities have advised communities to remain vigilant for any potential new cases so that their achievements are not destroyed.’

The baby Ebola patient, whose 25-year-old mother died of the disease in October 2015, was treated at the MSF center in the capital Conakry and declared cured on Monday, November 16, 2015.

Laurence Sailly, MSF emergency coordinator in Guinea, said, "Nubia has responded well to the treatment she received. We are pleased that she has been tested negative, but as she is the first infected baby to have recovered, she will continue to receive specialized medical support before going back home."

Nubia's family is from Guinea's Forecariah prefecture, near the Sierra Leone border, the last Ebola-affected area in the country. Sailly cautioned, "The government and the communities have worked hard with us to arrive at this result. We must still remain vigilant for any potential new cases so that our achievements will not be destroyed."

Source: AFP