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Ebola virus
WorldAfrica

WHO warns Ebola risk for Guinea’s neighbours is ‘very high’

  • The World Health Organization said Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and Liberia were not fully prepared for an Ebola outbreak
  • Guinea has vaccinated over 1,600 people but the shots, like Covid-19 vaccines, require ultra-cold storage and present logistical challenges

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A health worker administers an Ebola vaccine in the Democratic Republic of Congo, amid an outbreak in the country and in Guinea. Photo: Reuters
Reuters
World Health Organization officials on Friday said the risk of an Ebola outbreak spreading from Guinea to its neighbours was “very high”, and that some neighbouring countries were not prepared for outbreaks or for future vaccination campaigns.
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WHO Guinea representative, Georges Alfred Ki-Zerbo, told a virtual briefing that 18 cases had been identified and four of those people had died.

So far, 1,604 people have been vaccinated against Ebola in the new outbreak in Guinea, the first resurgence of the virus there since a 2013-2016 outbreak – the world’s worst – which spread to several other West African countries and killed thousands of people.

The Ebola virus causes severe vomiting, diarrhoea and internal and external bleeding, and is spread through contact with bodily fluids.

Officials said a readiness assessment for Guinea’s neighbours – Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and Liberia – showed gaps in their preparedness.

“There are six neighbouring countries to Guinea and we conducted an assessment of readiness. Two of the countries are not ready and one is borderline and there are three countries more or less ready,” the WHO’s Regional Emergency Director Abdou Salam Gueye said by videoconference from Guinea.

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