Bye bye Ebola; concert staged in Guinea

A concert marking the end of transmission of the Ebola virus was held on Wednesday in Guinea’s capital Conakry.

The World Health Organization announced Tuesday morning that Guinea was free of the virus for the first time since the epidemic was detected there in March 2014.

The West African nation had the fewest Ebola cases of the countries affected by the outbreak (Liberia and Sierra Leone). But its bigger size, extensive remote areas and a stigma and distrust of health workers allowed the outbreak to persist longer here.

WHO commends the Government of #Guinea and its people on the significant achievement of ending its #Ebola outbreak https://t.co/JOXfhqzzTU

— WHO (@WHO) December 29, 2015

President Alpha Condé had even doubled the country’s health budget in a bid to eradicate the epidemic that claimed over 2000 lives.

The last case of the virus was that of a three-month-old baby Nubia, who got cured on November 16.

Guinea will however, for the next three months, be in a state of heightened surveillance to make sure the virus does not re-emerge as it has done twice in Liberia.

Today #Guinea enters a 90-day phase (until March 2016) of enhanced surveillance. WHO will continue supporting https://t.co/JOXfhqzzTU #Ebola

— WHO (@WHO) December 29, 2015