Guinea tracks potential Ebola contacts, says can overcome new outbreak

[February 15, 2021]  By Saliou Samb

CONAKRY (Reuters) - Guinea is tracking down people who potentially came in contact with Ebola patients and will rush out vaccines to the area as soon as it can get them, after three people died of the disease, Health Minister Remy Lamah said on Monday.

Lamah said that unlike during the deadliest known outbreak, which tore through West Africa in 2013-2016, Guinea now had the means to halt the resurgence of the disease.

"In 2013, it took us months to understand that we were dealing with an Ebola epidemic, while this time, in less than four days, we were able to do analysis and have the results. Our medical teams are trained and seasoned. We have the means to quickly overcome this disease," Lamah told Reuters.

The 2013-2016 outbreak killed 11,300 people, mostly in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. The second-deadliest known outbreak was declared over last year in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but that country has also recorded new Ebola cases this month, alarming global health officials.

Lamah did not say how many potential contacts health officials were trying to trace. However authorities including in neighbouring Sierra Leone are concerned that the disease could quickly spread in the area where borders are porous.

A spokesman for Sierra Leone's health ministry said on Monday workers were on the ground at points of entry, performing surveillance in coordination with the Guinea authorities.

The resurgence started after the funeral of a nurse who was buried in southeast Guinea on Feb. 1. Authorities said seven people who took part in the funeral fell ill and tested positive for Ebola. Three have died, while four others are in isolation.

"As a priority, we are trying to trace all potential contacts to isolate them. At the same time, we will carry out a vaccination campaign in the locality, as soon as the doses are available," Lamah told Reuters.

"What worries us the most is the dangerousness of the disease given what we experienced five years ago. We do not want to relive such a situation," he said.

Lamah said the government had received assurances from the World Health Organization that it will help it get vaccines, as doses stored from the previous outbreak had expired.

(Reporting by Saliou Samb, additional reporting by Cooper Inveen; Writing by Bate Felix; Editing by Peter Graff)

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