MAY 20 (Reuters) — Guinea and Sierra Leone reported 35 new Ebola cases in the past week, four times as many as the week before, in a reminder that the virus will not go quietly, a top World Health Organization (WHO) official said on Tuesday (May 19).
“Our objective is: get to zero, maintain zero and early recovery of essential health services,” WHO Director-General Margaret Chan told Tuesday’s two-hour briefing at the United Nations.
“The virus, in this case, Ebola, has shown us time and time again how easy it is for a single, cross-border traveller or a single unsafe burial to re-ignite transmission chains again”, she added.
The WHO said on Monday (May 18) it is setting up a $100 million contingency fund to ensure that it will not be “overwhelmed” by a major crisis again as it was with Ebola, which has killed more than 11,000 people since December 2013.
Sierra Leone’s chief medical officer, Brima Kargbo said there had been fewer fatalities among people exposed to the virus who are confined to quarantine homes, but that there are still improvements to be made.
“If there is one lesson from the Ebola response so far, it is good that is good is not good enough,” Kargbo said.
The WHO’s special representative for Ebola, Bruce Aylward, told the briefing, which was attended by health ministers from around the world, that the job of eradicating Ebola was not over yet.
“This outbreak has not finished. It has not stopped. This week 35 cases of Ebola were reported from two countries. That is four times the number of cases from the week before. The virus was found in six districts and prefectures, twice as many than the week before. The job is not done and, if we do not finish the job, the virus will exploit the opportunity it is given,” said Aylward.
The 35 cases in the week to May 17 were in six districts of Guinea and Sierra Leone, with most in Guinea, Aylward said. Nine were confirmed the previous week.
Liberia, the other worst-hit country, was declared Ebola-free earlier this month.
