Tag Archives: Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone Reports New Ebola Case Just Hours After Region Declared Free of Virus

On 15 January, Sierra Leone officials confirmed a death of Ebola, just hours after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the latest West Africa outbreak over.

According to an Ebola test centre spokesman, tests on a person who died in northern Sierra Leone proved positive. Sidi Yahya Tunis disclosed that the death occurred earlier this week and that the patient had died in the Tonkolili district, adding he had travelled there from Kambia, which is located close to the border with Guinea. The victim was a 22-year-old female student. According to district medical officer Augustine Junisa, “the victims was taken ill when she was on holidays in Bamoi Luma and was taken to Magburaka, where her relatives took her to the government hospital for medical attention…Three days later she died at home and her death was reported to the hospital officials and initial swap test was taken which proved positive.” Sources have reported that health officials are now urgently seeking those who had come into contact with the victim.

Sierra Leone was declared free of the virus on 7 November 2015, and the region as a whole was cleared when Liberia was pronounced Ebola-free on 14 January. While the WHO has warned that flare-ups are expected, Friday’s announcement of a new case in the region is a setback for the area. Already, ten other flare-ups have taken place in areas where the spread of Ebola was thought to have ended, effectively raising new questions about WHO procedures in assessing whether the epidemic was really over. On Friday, the UN Health agency reported that Sierra Leone’s government was moving rapidly in order to contain the new threat, noting however that it was not immediately clear how the 22-year-old woman may have contracted Ebola as all known transmission chains in that country were halted in November. 

Timeline of Ebola Epidemic in West Africa

Below are key dates in the latest Ebola epidemic, which is the worst outbreak of the haemorrhagic fever, which first surfaced in 1976 in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). According to the latest toll released by the WHO, the epidemic has left more than 11,300 dead, mainly in the West African countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Almost 29,000 cases were reported during the outbreak.

Epidemic Starts in Guinea:

• December 2013: A one-year-old baby dies in southern Guinea and is later identified as “patient zero.” The virus remains localized until February 2014, when a care worker in a neighbouring province dies.

Ebola Begins to Spread in West Africa:

• 31 March 2014 – Two cases are confirmed by the WHO in Liberia, while on 26 May, Sierra Leone confirms its first case, to be followed in late July by Nigeria, in August by Senegal and in October by Mali. Senegal and Nigeria are declared free of Ebola in October 2014 while Mali is declared Ebola-free in January 2015.

Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone Cut Off From The World:

• 30 May 2015 – According to the aid group Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Ebola is “out of control.” The three worst-hit countries – Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone – declare measures that include states of emergency and quarantines. Many neighbouring states close their borders with the affected countries.

A ‘Public Health Emergency’:

• 8 August 2014 – The WHO declares Ebola a “public health emergency of international concern.” Four days later, it authorizes the use of experimental drugs in order to fight Ebola after an ethical debate. That day, a Spanish missionary infected in Liberia dies in Madrid, becoming the first European fatality.

Death in the US:

• 30 September 2014 – A Liberian man is hospitalized in the US state of Texas, effectively becoming the first Ebola infection to be diagnosed outside of Africa. He dies on 8 October.
• 6 October 2014 – A Spanish nurse in a Madrid hospital becomes the first person to be infected outside Africa. She is treated and released on 19 October.

Ebola Begins a Halting Retreat:

• 22 February 2015 – Liberia says it is lifting nationwide curfews and re-opening borders, as the epidemic begins to retreat.
• 26 February 2015 – The US ends its military mission in West Africa, where it deployed 2,800 soldiers in order to fight against Ebola. Soldiers were mainly deployed to Liberia.

Closing in on a Vaccine:

• 10 July 2015 – International donors pledge US $3.4 billion in order to help stamp out Ebola.
• 31 July 2015 – The WHO says an Ebola vaccine provided 100-percent protection in a field trial in Guinea, suggesting that the world is “on the verge of an effective Ebola vaccine.”

Hardest-hit Countries Emerge from the Epidemic:

• 9 May and 3 September 2015 – Liberia is declared Ebola-free by the WHO after no new cases were recorded for 42 days. However the declarations are followed by a resurgence of the virus. On 4 December, Liberia releases from hospital its last two known Ebola cases.
• 7 November 2015 – Sierra Leone is declared free of the outbreak by the WHO.
• 29 December – The WHO declares Guinea’s Ebola outbreak over, six weeks after the recovery of its last known patient, a three-week old girl who was born with the virus.

Last Ebola Patient Discharged From Guinea Hospital

According to health officials, the last known Ebola patient in Guinea has recovered and has been released from a treatment centre in the capital Conakry.

A spokesman for the country’s Ebola co-ordination unit has disclosed that two tests on the patient, a baby, had come back negative. Fode Tass Sylla has disclosed that “the baby is negative and so Guinea today is without a single Ebola patient,” adding, “we are crossing our fingers and praying that nothing will happen over the next 42 days so that we can celebrate Guinea without Ebola.”

Authorities have effectively begun the countdown to the end of the Ebola outbreak in Guinea, which is the last country that was still reporting cases after nearly two years and more than 11,000 deaths worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) declares that Ebola disease transmission has ended when the country goes through two incubation periods, 21 days each, without a new case emerging. The other two countries hardest hit by the outbreak, Liberia and Sierra Leone, have already been declared free of the deadly disease, however in Guinea, authorities have reported that they continued to face resistance in fearful communities, where people initially blamed international health workers for bringing the virus to their region.

Ebola remains in Guinea as Liberia and Sierra Leone Remain Free of Virus

After killing more than 11,000 people, the world’s worst outbreak of Ebola is now down to a few cases, however they all remain in Guinea, where the disease first emerged nearly two years ago and where health workers continue to battle community resistance in their bid to end the outbreak.

According to officials, Guinea’s fight against Ebola has been hampered by residents who have abandoned preventive measures, which helped halt the spread of the deadly virus. According to Guinea task force spokesman Fode Tass Sylla, people shake hands, don’t was their hands and continue to consult with traditional healers instead of medics. Minister of Health Col. Remy Lama has disclosed that the recent reporting of new cases in the district of Forecariah “have taken us all by surprise,” adding that the district had been free of the disease for nearly forty days.

Sierra Leone Due to be Declared Ebola Free Tomorrow

The Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone is expected to be officially declared over on Saturday, when the West African nation will have gone 42 days without any new infections. However jubilation over the ending of the outbreak in Sierra Leone, where almost 4,000 deaths have been reported, has been tempered by caution as neighboring Guinea continues to battle the deadly virus.

Speaking at a news conference in Freetown on Wednesday, Palo Conteh, the head of Sierra Leone’s Ebola response, indicated that there were no plans for “an elaborate celebration,” adding that instead, the World Health organization (WHO) will deliver a formal declaration in the capital city on Saturday of the end of the epidemic. He warned however that “we have to be vigilant as it is not the end of Ebola, but the end of the current outbreak. We have fought the disease and we have won.” Since emerging in December 2013, the worst outbreak of Ebola on record has infected a reported 28,500 people, with 11,300 deaths registered, however officials believe that the real toll is significantly higher than the official data. This is largely due to under-reporting of probable cases during the early stages of the outbreak. Saturday’s announcement marks the official end of a battle, which was prematurely thought to have been nearing its end on previous occasions. On 24 August, President Ernest Bai Koroma led a festive ceremony, celebrating the discharge of the country’s last known patient. Optimism however was quickly shattered by the deaths of a 67-year-old woman and, two weeks later, a 16-year-old girl. While the primary cost of the outbreak has been in human life, the crisis has also wiped out development gains in Sierra Leone. The World Bank estimates that the West African country will lose at least US $1.4 billion in economic growth in 2015 as a result, which will lead to an “unprecedented” GDP contraction of 23.5 percent.

Guinea Records Two New Ebola Cases After Two Weeks of No New Cases

The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that there are two new cases of Ebola that have been recorded in Guinea this week, effectively ending two consecutive weeks in West Africa when no cases of the disease were reported.

Officials have indicated that the two new patients were not previously identified contacts being tracked by health authorities. This suggests that officials are still unable to monitor everyone exposed to Ebola. On Friday, WHO spokeswoman Dr Margaret Harris disclosed that the UN health agency had expected to see more cases despite the recent lull in the epidemic, adding that the cases were in areas where scientists knew Ebola was spreading.

In its weekly update, WHO officials disclosed that there was a “near-term risk of further cases among both registered and untraced contacts.” To date, Ebola has killed more than 11,000 people in West Africa, mainly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.