More than 100 WHO workers are expected to be part of the
Ebola response team in Guinea by the end of February, the agency said in a
statement.
Last week, a new Ebola virus outbreak was declared in the
West African country of Guinea which has claimed several lives.
Earlier this month, authorities in DR Congo also announced
the reappearance of the Ebola virus in the eastern part of the Central African
country, more than two months after the end of the last outbreak.
The country has reported four confirmed Ebola cases,
including two deaths. The WHO said it has around 20 experts on the ground
supporting national and provincial health authorities to curb the spread of the
deadly virus.
“We are hard at work, shifting quickly through the gears to
get ahead of the virus. With experts and emergency supplies already getting on
the ground, the response is off to a strong start,” WHO Regional Director for Africa
Matshidiso Moeti said.
“Our collective, quick action is crucial to averting an
uncontrolled spread of Ebola amid the COVID-19 pandemic which has already
pushed health workers and health facilities to the edge,” Moeti added.
A vaccination drive was officially launched in DR Congo’s
Butembo, the outbreak’s epicenter, on Feb. 15, according to the UN health
agency.
The WHO said a vaccination campaign will soon start in
Guinea, adding it has released $1.25 million to support the response in Guinea
and to reinforce Ebola readiness in neighboring Ivory Coast, Guinea-Bissau,
Liberia, Mali, Senegal, and Sierra Leone.
Additionally, the UN Central Emergency Response Fund has
disbursed $15 million to support the response in Guinea, DR Congo, and
neighboring countries.
Guinea was one of the three most-affected countries in the
2014-2016 West Africa Ebola outbreak which was the largest since the virus was
first discovered in 1976.
The disease caused global alarm in 2014, when the world's
worst outbreak began in West Africa, killing more than 11,300 people and
infecting an estimated 28,600 as it swept through Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra
Leone.
Ebola, a tropical fever that first appeared in 1976 in Sudan
and the DRC, is transmitted to humans from wild animals.
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