Following reports from within Guinea that the outbreak of the Ebola virus that threatened adjacent nations is now “under control”, Senegal re-opened its border with its neighbour this week; a month after land crossings were sealed off.
The outbreak, which was identified in January, has severely tested healthcare agencies across the region but has prompted Guinea to complain that its neighbours and the wider community over-reacted – a view echoed by UN health officials.
The official death toll for Guinea has been revised down to include only cases that have been confirmed to be Ebola-related by laboratory tests. The previous total of 122, which included cases of haemorrhagic fever suspected of being Ebola, has been revised to 81 deaths from a total of 127 confirmed cases. Between April 17 and May 1, Guinea health authorities recorded another six cases of haemorrhagic fever that were being monitored, the government said. Liberia has recorded 13 deaths from Ebola but suspected cases in Sierra Leone, Mali and Gambia have tested negative.
Ebola is endemic to a number of countries in Central Africa and scientists believed the outbreak in West Africa was the Zaire strain until research published last month showed that a new strain had emerged in Guinea.
