Countries in West Africa have been placed on high alert to quell an outbreak of Ebola.
It follows a warning from the World Health Organization over Ebola infections in Guinea and Democratic Republic of Congo.
Guinea declared an outbreak of the virus on Sunday in the first return of the disease there since the 2013-2016 outbreak, while Congo has confirmed four new cases.
Guinea has so far recorded up to 10 suspected cases of Ebola and five deaths. Since declaring the outbreak.
The country has also identified 115 contacts of the known cases in the south-eastern city of Nzerekore and 10 in the capital Conakry.
Seven people who attended the funeral of a nurse tested positive for the disease which resulted in three deaths.
The WHO alert was issued to Guinea’s neighbours include Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
New #Ebola outbreak declared in #Guinea?? by health authorities today. 3 cases have been confirmed in the rural community of Gouéké in N’Zerekore prefecture. This is the first time the disease has been reported since the last outbreak ended in 2016. https://t.co/XpNQZ0ss7Z
— WHO African Region (@WHOAFRO) February 14, 2021
But other West African countries including Nigeria and Ghana have also put health workers on red alert following the resurgence of Ebola epidemic in Guinea.
They are taking preventive measures to avoid the last outbreak in West Africa, which killed more than 11,300 people, mostly in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
Among the preventive measures are intensified checks at entry points and inclusion of EVD response plans in operations of all regional and district health facilities.
Source: Africafeeds.com
