The last known case of Ebola virus has been released from a treatment center in Conakry, the capital of Guinea.
Guinea is the only nation still combating the recent Ebola outbreak in the African continent. The West African nation is on its way to be declared free of the notorious microorganism after the last known infected patient, a 19-day old baby boy, was discharged from a medical facility.
“The last confirmed case of Ebola has been released from a treatment center,” said Fod Tass Sylla, spokesman for Guinea’s Ebola co-ordination unit. “We did two tests after his treatment and both of them came back negative.”
The baby was born in the Nongo Ebola treatment facility to an infected mother who did not survive. The last cluster of 68 people who had been in contact with an Ebola patient were released from quarantine on Saturday, raising hopes of an end to the disease in the last West African country.
“There are no longer any people who had contact with a person infected by the Ebola virus,” said Dr. Abdourahamane Bathily, head of the Ebola center in Forecariah in wetern Guinea.
Guinea will be declared free of Ebola infection if no new infections are reported in the next six weeks. About 10 days ago, neighboring Sierra Leone completed its 42-day countdown without a new case and ultimately was declared hemorrhagic fever free. Earlier this year, Liberia also observed successful 6 weeks after the discharge of last infected individual from an isolation center.
The worst known Ebola epidemic in history began in Guinea’s forest region nearly two years ago. Recent Ebola outbreak has killed more than 11,000 people in West Africa including Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. IMAGE/Reuters