Liberia’s last Ebola patient discharged

Liberia ’ s last Ebola patient discharged

Liberia discharged its last confirmed Ebola patient on Thursday, as it reported for
the first time in nine months it had gone a full week without any new infections .
Beatrice Yordoldo left the Chinese-built Ebola treatment unit ( ETU ) in the
Paynesville suburb of the capital Monrovia to cheers from healthcare workers ,
government officials and aid workers .
“ Today I am very grateful to the almighty God and the Chinese ETU , and all of
the Liberian nurses that are working with them. I did not know I could make it , ”
said Yordoldo , who was admitted two weeks ago .
Liberia “ reported no new confirmed cases ” during the week to March 1, the
World Health Organization ( WHO ) said in a report late Wednesday .
“ This is the last confirmed Ebola case throughout the country ,” deputy health
minister Tolbert Nyenswah told reporters as Yordoldo was given an emotional
send-off .
“ We have gone for 13 days now without a new case. This is a great day for
Liberia . ”
Almost 24, 000 people have been infected with the virus since December 2013,
almost all in Liberia , Guinea and Sierra Leone , and 9, 807 of them have died,
according to ( WHO ) .
Of those , 9, 249 cases including 4, 117 deaths were registered in Liberia , which six
months ago was reporting more than 300 new cases each week .
At the height of the epidemic in a country whose health infrastructure had been
ravaged by back-to -back civil wars, overflowing health clinics had to turn people
away , often to die in the streets .
But a huge national and international response helped stem the spread .
Of 45 samples tested nationwide last week , none were positive, the WHO said ,
adding that it was first time there had been no new confirmed cases since May
26, 2014 .
– Significant increase –
The outlook was more worrying in Guinea and Sierra Leone , which jointly
reported 132 new confirmed cases last week .
Sierra Leone , which counts the most cases in total at 11, 466, including 3, 546
deaths , registered 81 new confirmed infections last week , up from 65 the week
before .
Transmission in the country “ remains widespread ” , the WHO warned , pointing out
that new cases had emerged in eight different districts, with rising numbers in
Freetown , the Western Rural district and in the northern district of Bombali.
The outbreak in Bombali was reportedly linked to a cluster of cases in the
Aberdeen fishing community in Freetown , and WHO said efforts were underway
to track over 2 ,000 contacts associated with that cluster .
The 51 new confirmed cases registered in Guinea last week also marked a
significant increase on the 35 new cases reported during the previous seven - day
period.
The country , which in total counts Ebola 3, 219 cases and 2, 129 deaths , also saw
a marked hike in new cases in the capital Conakry and in nearby Forecariah,
WHO said .
Massive efforts and funds have been poured into the fight to rid the three west
African countries of the Ebola scourge, and a main focus has been to ensure
that all those infected are isolated and cared for in treatment centres .
Ensuring safe burials of the highly contagious bodies has also been a priority .
– Vaccine trials –
But both Sierra Leone and Guinea continued to see high numbers of people dying
of Ebola in their communities , “ suggesting that the need for early isolation and
treatment is not yet understood , accepted or acted upon ” , WHO warned .
More than half of the 32 confirmed Ebola deaths in Guinea last week occurred in
the community , rather than treatment units, while the figure was 16 percent in
Sierra Leone .
Unsafe burials also continue to be a problem in the two countries , with 16
registered last week alone.
The first large -scale trial of an Ebola vaccine will begin in Guinea at the
weekend, the WHO said Thursday, weeks after a similar test kicked off in Liberia .
The Phase III testing of the vaccine — one of two that are in the most advanced
stages of development — aims to ensure it provides protection against the virus.
There is no licensed treatment or vaccine for Ebola , and the WHO has endorsed
rushing potential ones through trials in a bid to stem the epidemic .
Researchers have said it remains unknown what level of immune response
needed to protect humans from Ebola , which causes often fatal haemorrhaging ,
organ failure and severe diarrhoea .
“ If a vaccine is found ( to be ) effective, it will be the first preventive tool against
Ebola in history , ” WHO chief Margaret Chan said in a statement .