Guinea Declares New Ebola Outbreak

By Samb Saliou

GUINEA DECLARED A NEW EBOLA outbreak on Sunday, February 14th when tests came back positive for the virus after three people died and four fell ill in the southeast - the fi rst resurgence of the disease there since the world’s worst outbreak in 2013-2016.

The patients fell ill with diarrhoea, vomiting and bleeding after attending a burial in Goueke subprefecture. Those still alive have been isolated in treatment centres, the health ministry said.

“Faced with this situation and in accordance with international health regulations, the Guinean government declares an Ebola epidemic,” the ministry said in a statement.

The person buried on Feb. 1 was a nurse at a local health centre and died after being transferred for treatment to Nzerekore, a city near the border with Liberia and Ivory Coast.

The 2013-2016 outbreak of Ebola in West Africa started in Nzerekore, the proximity of which to busy borders hampered eff orts to contain the virus. It went on to kill at least 11,300 people, with the vast majority of cases in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Fighting Ebola again will place additional strain on health services in Guinea as they also battle the COVID-19 pandemic. Guinea, a country of about 12 million people, has so far recorded 14,895 coronavirus infections and 84 deaths.

The Ebola virus causes severe vomiting and diarrhoea and is spread through contact with body fl uids. It has a much higher death rate than COVID-19, but unlike the coronavirus it is not transmitted by asymptomatic carriers.