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West Africa marks end of Ebola after 11,300 deaths

The West African nation has now passed
the World Health Organisation threshold of
42 days — twice the incubation period for
the virus — since the last known patient
tested negative for the second time.
“WHO commends Liberia’s government and
people on their effective response to this
recent re-emergence of Ebola,” said WHO
Representative in Liberia Alex Gasasira in a
statement.
“WHO will continue to support Liberia in its
effort to prevent, detect and respond to
suspected cases,” Gasasira added.
The country now enters a 90-day period of
heightened surveillance for any new cases.
At its peak in 2014, Ebola sparked anxiety
about a possible global pandemic and led
some governments to threaten or
unilaterally enforce travel bans to and from
the worst-affected countries — Liberia,
Sierra Leone and Guinea.
The World Health Organisation declared an
end on June 1 to Ebola cases in Guinea, —
where it first broke out in December 2013
— and in Sierra Leone on March 17.
However, previous declarations announcing
the end of Ebola flare-ups in West Africa
have been followed by new cases — the
virus has re-emerged three times in
Liberia.
Health authorities were monitoring for new
cases after a woman died of Ebola in the
capital of Monrovia on March 31 after
arriving from Guinea.
Two of her three children, aged five and
two, subsequently tested positive for the
virus.
The WHO has drawn biting criticism for its
delayed response to the Ebola crisis and
its failure to identify the outbreak.
Last month it got the go-ahead for a
sweeping shake-up, including a $100m war
chest to battle future emergencies
following the Ebola fiasco.
In all, the virus affected 10 countries,
including the United States and Spain, with
more than 28,000 cases reported.
The Liberian health ministry called on
people to remain vigilant in order to avoid
another outbreak in the future.
“We have been carrying on a sensitisation
campaign. This campaign will continue, and
we will still be in readiness to contain any
eventual outbreak,” George said.
The risk of infection lasts beyond the 42-
day period because the virus can survive in
certain bodily fluids of survivors,
particularly sperm, where it can linger up
to a year, according to experts.
In Paynesville, the Monrovia suburb where
the most recent spate of cases were
registered, residents were glad to be
moving on.
“It is good to hear that Ebola is gone
again, but from what we saw recently we
remain resilient in our preventive
measures. We don’t want our
neighbourhood’s name to be attached to
the outbreak,” said Bubakar Sanor, 56.
“We are happy that our health workers are
now up to the task, containing the virus
with bravery and professionalism,” he told
AFP.
China’s economic attache to its Sierra
Leone embassy announced Thursday it
would help to build a tropical disease
research and prevention centre in the
country to strengthen West Africa’s
readiness to combat Ebola and similar
conditions.
“The recent Ebola outbreak damaged the
country’s economy and health sectors so
we have decided to construct a research
centre which will help in any future disease
attack in the country and in the sub
region,” Shen Xiaokai told journalists.
Punch ng

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