WHO warns Ebola risk for Guinea’s neighbours is ‘very high’
- The World Health Organization said Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and Liberia were not fully prepared for an Ebola outbreak
- Guinea has vaccinated over 1,600 people but the shots, like Covid-19 vaccines, require ultra-cold storage and present logistical challenges
So far, 1,604 people have been vaccinated against Ebola in the new outbreak in Guinea, the first resurgence of the virus there since a 2013-2016 outbreak – the world’s worst – which spread to several other West African countries and killed thousands of people.
The Ebola virus causes severe vomiting, diarrhoea and internal and external bleeding, and is spread through contact with bodily fluids.
Officials said a readiness assessment for Guinea’s neighbours – Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and Liberia – showed gaps in their preparedness.
“There are six neighbouring countries to Guinea and we conducted an assessment of readiness. Two of the countries are not ready and one is borderline and there are three countries more or less ready,” the WHO’s Regional Emergency Director Abdou Salam Gueye said by videoconference from Guinea.
He said no neighbouring countries were completely ready to start Ebola vaccinations, should they be required, and that there were not enough vaccine doses available in any case to begin vaccinating preventively.
“But those neighbouring countries agreed on cross-border cooperation and coordination to control the outbreak,” he said.
Guinea sees first Ebola deaths since 2016, as DR Congo battles outbreak
Ebola vaccines, like some coronavirus shots, require ultra-cold chain storage which presents logistical challenges. Guinea received Covid-19 vaccine doses donated from China this week.
“We are dealing with quite fragile health systems including [lack of] capacity to address many public health challenges so dealing with both Covid and Ebola remains a challenge,” said Dr Michel Yao, WHO director of Strategic Health Operations.
In a separate flare-up of a 2018-20 outbreak, the Democratic Republic of Congo has also reported new Ebola cases in recent weeks.
