CONAKRY, Nov 16 Reuters – Guinea’s last known Ebola patient, a 20-day-old baby girl, has recovered from the disease but remains under surveillance at a medical facility in the capital Conakry.
“WE did two tests after the treatment and they came back negative,” said Fod Tass Sylla, spokesman for Guinea’s Ebola co-ordination unit on Monday.
The baby’s recovery means that Guinea, the last country still battling the virus, can begin its 42-day countdown to ending the outbreak. In a major breakthrough, neighbouring Sierra Leone was declared Ebola-free on November 7. The baby was born in the Nongo Ebola treatment centre to an infected mother who did not survive. Sixty-eight people who had been in contact with the country’s last cluster of patients and were deemed at risk of developing the haemorrhagic fever were released from quarantine on Saturday. The worst known Ebola epidemic in history began in Guinea’s forest region nearly two years ago and has since killed around 11,300 people, predominantly in West Africa.