Guinea is in “Ebola epidemic situation”

At least three people died in Guinea facing a new “epidemic situation“of Ebola, as indicated this Sunday by the head of the Guinean health agency, Sakoba keita. Authorities in the country signaled on Saturday that a new epidemic could appear in the region, five years after the end of the previous one, but they were awaiting the results of the second reconfirmation test.

“Very early this morning, the Conakry laboratory confirmed the presence of Ebola virus», Revealed the Keita after an emergency meeting in Conakry, which reported seven cases, including three mortals. Minister of health Remy Lamah, had mentioned a figure of four deaths due to suspected cases of this hemorrhagic fever.

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World Health Organization (WHO) was worried this Sunday about the possible resurgence ofl Ebola in Guinea-Conakri. It was there, at the end of 2013, that the epidemic started. West Africa the worst epidemic in the history of this disease: killing over 11,000 people.

The regional director of the agency for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, wrote a message on Twitter in which she said she was “very concerned about the news four suspected deaths from Ebola in Guinea“. In this sense, the expert explained that the WHO “accelerates the preparation and the efforts of response to the possible resurgence ” disease in that region.

Saturday evening, the director general of the world reference body in health, Tedro Adhanom Ghebreyesus, confirmed that he was aware of possible cases in Guinea and that final confirmation tests were in progress.

The WHO intervened in the situation after this Saturday the government of the African country made public that the first analyzes with suspected case samples detected in the south-east of the territory they tested positive for Ebola. At the time, Guinean authorities reported up to four dead suspect for the disease and five other cases who are in treatment, awaiting a second reconfirmation test. Experts are working in Conakry to confirm the resurgence of the virus.

“There were some initial tests that were carried out in the European Union laboratory in Guéckédou. These tests confirmed that it is viral disease Ebola. We are going to do a second examination in Conakry to confirm or deny the results, ”Guinea’s Minister of Health said on Saturday. Remy Lamah, as reported by local media.

The National Agency for Health Security (ANSS) of this country has indicated that the disease has been detected after a nurse Symptoms compatible with Ebola will begin at the end of January. The patient he is dead in the Gouécké district, near the town of N’Zérékoré (south-east).

So, eight people What participated in his funeralOn February 1, they began to experience diarrhea, vomiting and bleeding, which is usually characteristic of this disease. Three of them also died.

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After the great epidemic that hit West Africa between 2014 and 2016 no more cases of this disease had been detected in the region. The first Ebola patient was identified in late 2013, and the virus eventually produced over 28,500 infections and 11,300 deaths, according to WHO figures.

That of Guinea is not the only epidemic of the disease that worries the African continent, but in recent days three cases were also reported in the north-eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), in the center of the continent, a country which suffers relatively frequently from the scourge of this virus.

What is Ebola and how is it transmitted?

Ebola is a virus, which is part of the filovirus family, which spread by direct contact with blood or fluids human or animal body (feces, urine, saliva, semen), according to WHO data.

Infection can also occur through the contact with contaminated objects or environments with bodily fluids of an infected person: dirty clothes, bedding, gloves or protective equipment, and medical waste such as used hypodermic syringes.

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It was first identified in 1976, when two simultaneous outbreaks occurred: one in Yambuku, a village near the Ebola River, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the other in an isolated region of Sudan.

The origin of the virus is not known, but current evidence indicates that bats frugivorous (from the family Pteropodidae) they can be guests.

Among its main symptoms, it causes diarrhea, vomiting and haemorrhagic fever. If it is not treated in time, it can reach a 90% death rate.

The virus levels of Ebola stay high after death, so the bodies fatal victims of this disease should only be handled by people wearing special personal protective equipment and should be buried immediately.