Following Liberia and Sierra Leone, Africa’s last Ebola hub could be eradicated soon as Guinea commences the countdown to being declared Ebola free.
The last known Ebola patient in the country, a baby boy, has been treated and discharged, and tests on him have proven negative.
This means, if there is no new case recorded in the country in the next 42 days (6 weeks, which is twice the incubation period of the virus), the World Health Organisation can officially declare the country Ebola free.
“The last confirmed case of Ebola has been released from a treatment centre,” Fode Tass Sylla of the Ebola co-ordination unit said, according to the BBC.
“We did two tests after his treatment and they came back negative.”
The 19-day-old baby was born in the Nongo Ebola treatment centre but his infected mother did not survive, Reuters reported.
Sierra Leone’s move towards eradication saw many setbacks, and so cautious optimism should be the default setting as the countdown winds down.
This Ebola outbreak, the worst in history- hit West Africa in 2014, with Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone the worst affected. It has killed over 11,000 people.