Authorities in Guinea are talking of a new epidemic of Ebola virus now that people have died from the Ebola virus for the first time in five years. Health Minister Remi Lamah reports that four people in the West African country have died from the virus. During the 2013-2016 outbreak, which began in Guinea, more than 11,000 people were killed across the region. The World Health Organization pledged to provide swift aid to the country on Sunday.
A nurse fell ill in the southeastern district of Nazrikor in late January and was buried on February 1. Eight people who attended her funeral showed symptoms shortly after. Three of them have died now, and there are four in the hospital. Tests later revealed that they were infected with the Ebola virus.
Guinea is not the only country in the region currently facing an Ebola outbreak. Liberian President George Weah is concerned and has asked his country’s health authorities to increase their vigilance about the Ebola outbreak in neighboring Guinea. Preventive measures have been taken and supervision has been tightened.
The World Health Organization has viewed every new outbreak since 2016 with great concern, and considers the most recent one in the Democratic Republic of the Congo an international emergency. On Sunday, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on Twitter that the UN health agency had been notified of two suspected cases of the deadly disease in Guinea.
On Sunday, the Democratic Republic of the Congo reported a fourth case of Ebola virus infection in North Kivu province. The World Health Organization confirmed the resurgence of the virus there on Thursday, three months after Congolese authorities announced the end of the latest virus outbreak in the country. The Democratic Republic of the Congo has faced several outbreaks of this deadly disease. During the last outbreak, 55 of the 130 infected people died.
