Finally, WHO Declares Guinea Ebola-Free

The World health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday, December 29, 2016, finally declared the Republic of Guinea free from the Ebola virus disease, after the country had lost more than 2,500 people to the dreaded virus. With this declaration, Liberia remains the only country which is yet to be officially cleared of the disease.

For over two years, the epidemic had ravaged the small West African country, taking a heavy toll on the country’s health and education sectors.

A WHO official at the National Coordination Centre for the Fight Against Ebola, Rene Magliani, disclosed that over 6,200 children in Guinea were orphaned by the epidemic while it lasted in that country.

He said that Guinea alone recorded over 3,800 cases of Ebola infection, out of the 28,600 cases globally that resulted in 11,300 deaths. Almost all the cases of infection and death were recorded in Guinea and its neighbours Liberia and Sierra Leone.

According to WHO,  country is officially declared Ebola-free 42 days after the recovery or death of the last known patient, without any new infections recorded.