Guinea Announces It's Dealing With A New Ebola Epidemic

Guinea is dealing with a new ebola epidemic several years after it was the epicentre of the West African outbreak of the deadly virus.

The country's health ministry said in a statement: "Faced with this situation and in accordance with international health regulations, the Guinean Government declares an Ebola epidemic."

According to the BBC, three people have died so far and four others have been struck down with diarrhoea, vomiting and bleeding. The latter cases have been told to isolate and tracing efforts are underway to determine if anyone else has been infected.

It's reported the cases still alive started seeing symptoms after attending the burial of a nurse.

The nurse was buried several days after her death on January 28. She worked at a health centre in Goueké, near the south-eastern city of Nzérékoré, near the border with Liberia.

PA

The neighbouring country hasn't experienced any cases of ebola yet, but health authorities have been placed on high alert.

A statement from President George Weah's office said: "[He] has mandated the Liberian health authorities and related stakeholders in the sector to heighten the country's surveillance and preventative activities.

"The president's instruction is intended to ensure Liberia acts proactively to avoid any epidemic situation, the kind Liberia witnessed in 2014."

Between 2013 and 2016, more than 11,300 people in West Africa died from an ebola outbreak that started in Guinea.

Following that epidemic, several vaccines were developed and were successful in eliminating outbreaks of the virus.

PA

This new cluster of cases is the first known resurgence of the virus since 2016 and the World Health Organization is rushing to send help.

The WHO representative Alfred George Ki-Zerbo said in a press briefing: "We are going to rapidly deploy crucial assets to help Guinea, which already has considerable experience [treating the disease]. The arsenal is stronger now and we will take advantage of that to contain this situation as fast as possible.

"The WHO is on full alert and is in contact with the manufacturer [of a vaccine] to ensure the necessary doses are made available as quickly as possible to help fight back."

The ABC reports Guinea's health service has already been put under intense strain as a result of the coronavirus and this new outbreak will only cause more headaches.

The country has recorded 84 deaths and nearly 15,000 cases of the coronavirus since the pandemic began.

Topics: News

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

@stewartperrie