Tag: Ebola

Ivory Coast records first case of Ebola: health minister

Ivory Coast has recorded a first case of Ebola, the health minister announced late Saturday, the first occurence of the deadly disease in nearly three decades. Officials at the Institut Pasteur had confirmed the case after testing samples taken from an 18-year-old Guinean woman, Health Minister Pierre N’Gou Demba said on RTI state television. She had left the city of Labe in Guinea by road, arriving in Ivory Coast on Wednesday, he added. “This is […]

WHO declares an end to second Ebola outbreak in Guinea

NZEREKOE, Guinea (AFP) — The World Health Organization on Saturday officially announced the end of Guinea’s second Ebola outbreak which was declared in February and claimed 12 lives. At 16 confirmed cases and seven probable infections according to WHO figures, the limited size of the latest flare-up has been credited to experience from the 2013-16 epidemic, which killed more than 11,300 people mostly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Just 12 people died this time […]

Guinea to declare end to Ebola epidemic

by Laurent Lozano DAKAR, Senegal (AFP) — Guinea will announce an end to its Ebola epidemic this weekend, the health minister said Thursday, hailing the rapid response to the second outbreak of the disease in the country. Speaking during a webinar hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO), Health Minister Remy Lamah said the viral epidemic will be declared over on Saturday — barring the discovery of new cases. “The availability of epidemic treatment centres […]

DR Congo announces end to Ebola outbreak

KINSHASA, DR Congo (AFP) — The Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday announced the end of a nearly three-month outbreak of Ebola that claimed six lives out of 12 known cases. The outbreak, the DRC’s 12th since the disease was first identified in 1976, was rolled back thanks to a campaign to vaccinate hundreds of people, the new health minister Jean-Jacques Mbungani said. The disease was first detected on February 7 in the eastern province […]

Guinea launches Ebola vaccination campaign

by Carol Valade CONAKRY, Guinea (AFP) — Guinea launched an Ebola vaccination campaign on Tuesday after a fresh outbreak of the deadly disease struck the country this month, with officials hoping to eradicate the virus in six weeks. The country reported new Ebola cases on February 13 — the first in West Africa since a 2013-2016 epidemic that left more than 11,300 dead in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The latest outbreak emerged near the […]

US warns of Ebola threat after Africa outbreaks

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States on Tuesday warned that, despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the world “cannot afford to turn the other way” after cases of Ebola were confirmed in Guinea and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Five people have died of Ebola virus in Guinea — the first outbreak in West Africa since a 2013-2016 epidemic that left more than 11,300 people dead in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The Democratic Republic […]

Ebola: profile of a prolific killer

  PARIS, France (AFP) — A factfile on the Ebola virus that has plunged Guinea into an “epidemic situation” according to a senior health official, and which has killed more than 15,000 people since 1976. – Origins – Ebola was first identified in central Africa in 1976. The tropical virus was named after a river in the Democratic Republic of Congo — then known as Zaire. Five of the virus species are known to cause […]

Guinea health chief calls Ebola outbreak ‘epidemic’, 7 cases confirmed

  CONAKRY, Guinea (AFP) — The head of Guinea’s health agency said Sunday that the country was in the midst of an Ebola “epidemic situation” with seven cases confirmed in the West African nation, including three deaths. “Very early this morning, the Conakry laboratory confirmed the presence of the Ebola virus,” Sakoba Keita said after an emergency meeting in the capital. Health Minister Remy Lamah had earlier spoken of four deaths. It was not immediately […]

Growing concern over first W.Africa Ebola outbreak for five years

by Mouctar Ba with Philippe Siuberski in Dakar CONAKRY, Guinea (AFP) — West Africa faced its first known Ebola resurgence since the end of a devastating outbreak in 2016 on Sunday, with Guinea responding to what its health chief called an “epidemic” after seven cases were confirmed. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic stretching health resources across the world, Guinea and the World Health Organization (WHO) say they are better prepared to deal with Ebola now than […]

Virus hunters delve into Gabon forest in search for next threat

by Adrien MAROTTE Agence France-Presse ZADIE CAVES, Gabon (AFP) — The scene looks like something out of a science fiction movie, or maybe some dystopian TV series. Six men in yellow biohazard suits clamber in suffocating heat towards a cave in the heart of the Gabonese jungle. Their quest: to unlock new knowledge on how pathogens like coronavirus leap the species barrier to humans. In the cave is their goal — a colony of bats. […]

DR Congo announces end of latest Ebola epidemic

  KINSHASA, DR Congo (AFP) — The Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday declared the end of the country’s latest Ebola epidemic, after the outbreak killed 55 people over the past five months. “I am happy to solemnly declare the end of the 11th epidemic of the Ebola virus in Equateur province” in the vast country’s northwest, Health Minister Eteni Longondo told journalists. The World Health Organization said the latest outbreak had killed 55 people […]

DR Congo to probe allegations of sex abuse by Ebola aid workers

  KINSHASA, DR Congo (AFP) — DR Congo said Thursday it would launch an inquiry into accusations that international workers in an anti-Ebola campaign had sexually abused local women. A report last month said dozens of women described sexual exploitation by aid workers from the UN’s World Health Organization (WHO) and leading NGOs during the 2018-2020 Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. “The Congolese government will act. We are going to set up […]