The News
Thursday 28 of March 2024

Fifth Person Dies in Guinea Ebola Flare-Up


Guinea was declared Ebola free in December. Photo: Reuters/Ruben Sprich
Guinea was declared Ebola free in December. Photo: Reuters/Ruben Sprich
Ebola deaths since March 17 add up to 5 as fear of contagion grows due to lack of sanitary precautions for population

CONAKRY, Guinea –  A fifth person has died of Ebola in southeast Guinea since March 17, a health official told Reuters on Tuesday, raising concerns that a recent flare-up of the deadly virus could spread.

The latest case was detected in Macenta prefecture, about 200 kilometres from the village of Korokpara where the four other recent Ebola-related deaths occurred, said Fode Sylla Tass, spokesman for National Coordination of the Fight against Ebola in Guinea.

The man, who has not been identified, had recently visited Korokpara and had been in direct contact with the first patients, Tass said. He was buried in the village of Makoidou without any sanitary precautions.

Burials, where bodies of the deceased are often washed, have been a main cause of transmission of Ebola, which has killed at least 11,300 people in West Africa since 2013 in the worst outbreak on record.

Guinea, one of the worst hit countries, was declared Ebola free in December, but the World Health Organisation warned about possible flare-ups.

The headquarters of the World Health Organization (WHO). The organization had warned of possible flare-ups despite the country being declared free of ebola. Photo: Reuters/Denis Balibouse.
The headquarters of the World Health Organization (WHO). The organization had warned of possible flare-ups despite the country being declared free of ebola. Photo: Reuters/Denis Balibouse.

It was not immediately clear how the people from Korokpara had contracted the disease but the area had previously resisted efforts to fight the illness in the initial epidemic.

Guinea’s Ebola coordination unit has traced an estimated 816 people who may have come into contact with the first four recent victims.

Liberia closed its border with Guinea on Tuesday as a precaution against the latest outbreak.

In Makoidou, news of the latest test was met with panic.

“When the villagers realized that the test conducted by our health teams on the man were positive, they all fled into the bush,” Tass said.