WHO hails end of Ebola transmission in Guinea

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday declares the end of Ebola virus transmission in the Republic of Guinea as 42 days have passed since the last person confirmed to have Ebola virus disease tested negative for the second time. WHO hailed the end of Ebola transmission in Guinea marks an important milestone in the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. The original chain of transmission started two years ago in Gueckedou district, Guinea in late December 2013 and drove the outbreak which spread to neighboring Liberia and Sierra Leone and, ultimately, by land and air travel to seven other countries. A total of 28,601 confirmed, probable, and suspected Ebola cases cumulatively reported in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, claiming 11,300 deaths. Guinea now enters a 90-day period of heightened surveillance to ensure that any new cases are identified quickly before they can spread to other people. "This is the first time that all three countries have stopped the original chains of transmission that were responsible for starting this devastating outbreak two years ago," said Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. Moeti commended the governments, communities and partners for their determination in confronting this epidemic to get to this milestone, adding "we need to stay vigilant to ensure that we rapidly stop any new flares that may come up in 2016." In addition to the original chain of transmission, there have been 10 new small Ebola flares between March and November 2015. These appear to have been due to the re-emergence of a persistent virus from the survivor population. WHO said among the challenges survivors have faced is that after recovering from Ebola virus disease and clearing the virus from their bloodstream, the virus may persist in the semen of some male survivors for as long as 9 to 12 months. WHO and its partners are working with the governments of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea to help ensure that survivors have access to medical and psychosocial care, screening for persistent virus, as well as counseling and education to help them reintegrate into family and community life, reduce stigma and minimize the risk of Ebola virus transmission. In Sierra Leone, human-to-human transmission linked to the primary outbreak was declared to have ended on Nov. 7. WHO said human-to-human transmission linked to the recent cluster of cases in Liberia will be declared to have ended next month, if no further cases are reported.