The declaration of Sierra Leone’s status has been made by the World Health Organization (WHO) based on 42 days having elapsed since the last recorded case, according to The Guardian. The first case of Ebola in the country occurred 18 months previously.
To date, there have been 11,314 official cases of Ebola in West Africa recorded by WHO. These are divided between:
4,808 Liberia
3,955 Sierra Leone
2,536 Guinea
8 Nigeria
The number of actual cases is probably higher given that some cases have gone unreported in rural areas. Ebola virus disease (EVD) is an unpleasant disease. According to Pharmaceutical Microbiology: “after an incubation time that can stretch to twenty-one days, one of the common signs of the disease is bleeding from mucous membranes and puncture sites. If the infected person does not recover, death due to multiple organ dysfunction syndrome occurs.”
Following the news there were joyous celebrations as thousands of people took to the streets of the capital, Freetown. Dr Oliver Johnson, from the King’s Sierra Leone partnership told BBC News: “For everyone I’ve spoken to, there’s a sense of relief that this might finally be over and maybe a bit of disbelief that after so many false starts, or false ends, we might finally be there.”
In relation to the other Ebola hot-spots, Liberia was declared free of Ebola on September 3, 2015; however, Guinea has yet to reach the all important 42-day threshold. This could be a while given that four new cases have been recorded at the start of November. A further risk remains with the adaptability of the virus. Here is genetic research that shows the virus is capable of mutating.
