The announcement today marks the first known resurgence of the virus in West Africa since the 2013-2016 epidemic that began in Guinea and left more than 11,300 dead across the region, according to France 24.
The head of Guinea’s health agency, Sakoba Keita said, “Very early this morning, the Conakry laboratory confirmed the presence of the Ebola virus.” Keita added that there were seven confirmed cases and three deaths.
“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 World Health Organization (WHO) was notified.
Guinea reports eight Ebola cases including three deaths pic.twitter.com/eBUJDAE2qT
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 14, 2021
All seven patients fell ill after attending a funeral in Goueke sub-prefecture. Those still alive have been isolated in treatment centers, the health ministry said. It is not certain if the person buried on February 1 had Ebola. She was a nurse at a local health center who died of an unspecified illness after being transferred for treatment from Nzerekore, a city near the border with Liberia and the Ivory Coast, reports Reuters.
Guinea’s Ebola outbreak comes one week after eastern Congo confirmed it also had cases. The Democratic Republic of Congo reported on February 7 the death of a woman near the city of Butembo nearly three months after the end of an outbreak in the western province of Équateur, which killed 55.
WHO races to contain #Ebola in the DRC as it confirms a third case February 12, 2021
However, according to Reuters, the DRC reported a fourth new case of Ebola in North Kivu province today.
The resurgence of Ebola comes at a time when healthcare systems in many countries are already being strained by the coronavirus pandemic. Guinea, a country of around 12 million, has so far recorded 14,895 coronavirus infections and 84 deaths. The country has already asked the WHO for vaccines against the Ebola virus.
“WHO is ramping up readiness & response efforts to this potential resurgence of #Ebola in West Africa, a region which suffered so much from Ebola in 2014,” the WHO’s Regional Director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti said on Twitter.
