A woman celebrates with others as the country is declared Ebola free in the city of Freetown
Cheers erupted and people danced in the streets Saturday as Sierra Leone marked the end of the Ebola outbreak within its borders, although neighboring Guinea still struggles to stamp out the deadly virus that has killed more than 11,000 mostly in West Africa.
Nearly 4,000 people have died in Sierra Leone of Ebola since the outbreak began in late 2013. The World Health Organization said 42 days have passed since the country’s last confirmed Ebola patient was discharged on Sept. 25 after two consecutive negative test results.
Hundreds of people celebrated in the streets of the capital, Freetown, when Anders Nordstrom, Sierra Leone representative for the World Health Organization, declared the end of the Ebola outbreak.
“WHO commends the government and people of Sierra Leone for the significant achievement of ending this Ebola outbreak,” he said.
A country must go 42 days — equal to two 21-day incubation periods — without an Ebola case in order for WHO to declare it free of Ebola transmission. It’s a benchmark that neighboring Liberia reached in May only to then experience a brief reappearance of cases before it was declared Ebola-free again in September.
Sierra Leone now enters a 90-day intensive surveillance period.
“We have prevailed over an evil virus. We persevered and we have overcome. We must not let down our guard,” said Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma. Clarence Roy-Macaulay, Freetown, AP
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