The Ebola outbreak began in Guinea in December 2013 and despite the number of reported cases of Ebola are dropping across West Africa, according to a World Health Organization report, cases in many parts of west Africa continue to occur.
Since the Ebola outbreak began more than 24,000 people in nine countries have been infected with the virus, and over 10,000 of them have died. This means that the current outbreak has now killed five times more than all other known Ebola outbreaks combined.
In Guinea, March 2015 has seen a step increase in new cases. This has led Mr Conde to declare: “a reinforced health emergency for a period of 45 days in the prefectures of Forecariah, Coyah, Dubreka, Boffa and Kindia.”
The new emergency provisions include the quarantining of hospitals and clinics where new cases are detected, new rules on burials and possible lock-downs.
In related news, new research has shown that after a person has passed away from the Ebola virus, the virus remains infectious. To understand how long the virus remains infectious in a body after death researchers have undertaken animal studies.
