Guinea Announces Ebola Epidemic Again After Five Years

Illustration (National Cancer Institute/Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Guinea has announced a new Ebola epidemic after four people died and four others became sick in the southeastern region of Nzerekore. This is a comeback after Ebola broke out in West Africa, including Guinea in 2013-2016.

A nurse at a local health center became ill and died after being transferred for treatment in Nzerekore on February 1. The eight people who attended the funeral showed symptoms of diarrhea, vomiting and bleeding. Three of them died, the other four were hospitalized.

The Guinean Ministry of Health said in a statement that the patients fell ill due to diarrhea, vomiting and bleeding after attending a funeral in Goueke sub-prefecture. Those who are still alive have been isolated in a care center.

"Faced with this situation and in accordance with international health regulations, the Guinean government declared an Ebola epidemic," the Health Ministry said in a statement.

The Health Ministry said health workers were trying to trace and isolate Ebola case contacts and would open a treatment center in Goueke, which is less than an hour's drive from Nzerekore.

Authorities have also requested the Ebola vaccine from the World Health Organization (WHO). It is known that the new vaccine has greatly increased the survival rate in recent years.

"It is of great concern to see the re-emergence of Ebola in Guinea, a country which has suffered greatly from the disease," WHO Regional Director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti was quoted as saying in a statement to Reuters.

The Ebola virus causes severe vomiting and diarrhea and is spread through contact with body fluids. It has a much higher death rate than COVID-19, but unlike the coronavirus, it is not transmitted by an asymptomatic carrier.

Fighting Ebola again will put additional pressure on health services in Guinea as they are also battling the COVID-19 pandemic. Guinea, a country of about 12 million people, has so far recorded 14,895 coronavirus infections and 84 deaths.