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Freetown – While the 2014–2016 deadly Ebola outbreak in West Africa devastated lives and wrecked health services, it also offered pivotal lessons in outbreak control by stoking swift and more effective response as well as driving progress in vaccines and therapeutics.

While the 2014–2016 deadly Ebola outbreak in West Africa devastated lives and wrecked health services, it also offered pivotal lessons in outbreak control by stoking swift and more effective response as well as driving progress in vaccines and therapeutics.

The Ebola outbreak that erupted in Guinea in early 2021 was declared over on 19 June, just four months after the first cases were confirmed in a rural community in the south of the country. Banking on the lessons learned from the deadly 2014–2016 outbreak as well as a growing national expertise, a prompt response was mounted, helping to curb widespread infection. Minister of Health Honourable Dr Rémy Lamah explains what it took to halt the virus and the challenges met.

It is a quiet morning at an Ebola treatment centre in the outskirts of N’zerekore, a town in the south-east of Guinea. The centre’s triage and reception areas are all empty, and medical staff are relaxed and jovial as they tend to a small handful of patients or catch up on some administrative tasks in the office.

The Ebola outbreak that emerged in Guinea in mid-February was declared over today. It was the first time the disease resurfaced in the country since the deadly outbreak in West Africa that ended in 2016.

His Excellency Mr Prithvirajsing Roopun, the President of the Republic of Mauritius met Dr Laurent Musango, the WHO Representative in Mauritius on 17 June 2021 to discuss the COVID-19 situation and the vaccination programme in the country.    It was an opportunity for the WHO to update the President on the country’s latest Situation Report and how WHO is supporting the country to fight the pandemic.  Dr L. Musango informed the President that a total number of 1,105 local cases have been confirmed since the second wave, with a first case registered on 5 March 2021.  The country was COVID-safe for several weeks due the measures taken by the Government of Mauritius to control and prevent the spread of COVID-19 said the WHO Representative.