Addis Ababa, 14 February 2021- The Government of Republic of Guinea declared a new case of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak on 14 February 2021 in Gouecke sub-prefecture N’Zerekore Prefecture. This is following the detection of a suspected cases of Ebola who attended a burial ceremony of a nurse at Goueké health center. The nurse died on 28 January 2021 and buried on 1 February 2021; so far a total of seven (7) cases (4 men and 3 women) with three (3) deaths (2 women and a man) reported, of which three of them were laboratory tested in Gueckedou and Conakry laboratories, where results turned to be positive for Ebola Virus. All these attended the burial ceremony of the nurse.
On Sunday, 14 February 2021, the Minister of Health called for an emergency meeting and put in place a swift emergency response measures, in consultation with different stakeholders, including partners. The public health measures put in place include: activation of different intersectoral coordination and emergency response units; further investigation and contact tracing; isolation of suspected cases; and social mobilization and community engagement. The Government is working on to get EVD vaccines from different parties.
This is the first resurgence of EVD in Guinea after the 2014- 2016 West Africa massive outbreak which claimed over 11,300 livers, with over 28600 recorded cases.
In response to this new EVD cases, the African Union Commission has been informed of the outbreak, and is ready to offer the comprehensive support of all AU organs. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) will continue working with the Government of Republic of Guinea; and is preparing to deploy an advance emergency response support team of experts in the next 48 hours. It will continue to mobilize its expertise and resources to support the response.
Africa CDC is closely monitoring the situation. In collaboration with the West Africa Health Organization (WAHO), the Africa CDC will call for an emergency meeting of experts to better coordinate emergency responses in Guinea and in neighbouring countries across the region.
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