Health officials in Guinea on Sunday confirmed that at least three people have died from Ebola there, the first cases declared since it was one …
Health officials in Guinea on Sunday confirmed that at least three people have died from Ebola there, the first cases declared since it was one of three West African nations to fight the world’s deadliest Ebola epidemic that ended five years ago. An additional five people have tested positive for Ebola in Gueckedou town in the country’s south, according to Dr. Sakoba Keita, the head of Guinea’s National Health Security Agency. “I confirm it’s Ebola. The results prove it,” Minister of Health Remy Lamah told The Associated Press by phone. The patients were tested for Ebola after showing symptoms of hemorrhagic fever and those who came in contact with the sick are already in isolation, said officials. Guinea’s announcement comes one week after eastern Congo confirmed it also had cases. The cases are not linked. Health experts in Guinea say these latest cases could be a major setback for the impoverished nation, already battling COVID-19 and which is still recovering from the previous Ebola outbreak, which killed 2,500 in Guinea where it began. More than 11,300 people died in that outbreak which also hit the neighboring countries of Liberia and Sierra Leone between 2014 and 2016.
