Six African countries now on alert due to Ebola virus outbreak

WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris did not clarify which countries were alerted, although she did indicate that they include Liberia and Sierra Leone, which together with Guinea suffered a serious disease outbreak between 2013 and 2016.

    GENEVA (AP) – The World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday that it had put six African countries on alert following recent Ebola outbreaks in Guinea-Conakry and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

This was assured today at a press conference by WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris, who did not clarify which six countries were alerted, although she did indicate that they include Liberia and Sierra Leone, which along with Guinea suffered a serious outbreak of that disease between 2013 and 2016. “They are acting quickly to prepare and be ready for any possible infection,” Harris stressed.

Guinea-Conakry declared the new outbreak last Sunday, while the Democratic Republic of Congo, which had suffered another outbreak between 2019 and 2020, reported new cases on February 7.

The WHO spokeswoman clarified that health authorities in both countries had identified 300 possible cases linked to the Congolese outbreak and more than a hundred in the Guinean one. 

The number of patients who have died of Ebola has risen to five in Guinea-Conakry, the National Health Security Agency (ANSS) of that West African country reported today. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the authorities officially launched Monday the vaccination campaign against the disease.

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