WHO made the declaration after Liberia reported no new Ebola cases for 42 days, twice the maximum incubation period for the deadly disease.
However, the West African region is still affected by the disease. Sierra Leone and Guinea — Liberia's neighbors — each reported nine cases of the disease last week.
WHO has also announced changes to its post-Ebola guidelines.
The agency is urging formerly infected men and their sexual partners to either abstain from sex or practice safe sex for six months, enough time to have two semen tests that are negative for the Ebola virus.
[voanews.com]
9/5/15
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- Ebola: Good news in Liberia – but no cause for complacency (European Commission - Statement)...
After 42 days without new cases, the World Health Organization
(WHO) today declared the end of the Ebola outbreak in Liberia. On this
occasion, the EU Ebola Coordinator and Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid
and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides made the following
statement:
"This is great news – for Liberia and for the world. It is a tribute to the bravery and resilience of the people of Liberia, and of the many African and other international health workers who have worked hard for months to bring Ebola down to zero in Liberia. It shows that the fight against Ebola can be won. But it is an incredibly tough fight.
We must not be complacent: our collective effort must be sustained until the outbreak is over in Sierra Leone and in Guinea. Both countries have made great strides in recent months to bring infection rates down. We must stand by their side as they work to bring cases down to zero. Now is not the time to let up and pull out resources.
Beyond that, we have to help all three countries recover from the devastating impact of Ebola on their economies. We need to help them rebuild and strengthen their health systems. And we need to make sure they, and countries all around the world, are better prepared the next time an epidemic like Ebola strikes."
More than a year after the start of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the efforts made by the local authorities and population, along with the unprecedented international response, has started to bear fruit.
Together with its Member States, the EU has mobilised close to €1.4 billion of support to the response and has deployed experts, laboratories, vital equipment, research capacities, and a medical evacuation system at the service of all international health workers in the affected countries.
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_STATEMENT-15-4954_en.htm?locale=en
9/5/15
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Related:
"This is great news – for Liberia and for the world. It is a tribute to the bravery and resilience of the people of Liberia, and of the many African and other international health workers who have worked hard for months to bring Ebola down to zero in Liberia. It shows that the fight against Ebola can be won. But it is an incredibly tough fight.
We must not be complacent: our collective effort must be sustained until the outbreak is over in Sierra Leone and in Guinea. Both countries have made great strides in recent months to bring infection rates down. We must stand by their side as they work to bring cases down to zero. Now is not the time to let up and pull out resources.
Beyond that, we have to help all three countries recover from the devastating impact of Ebola on their economies. We need to help them rebuild and strengthen their health systems. And we need to make sure they, and countries all around the world, are better prepared the next time an epidemic like Ebola strikes."
More than a year after the start of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the efforts made by the local authorities and population, along with the unprecedented international response, has started to bear fruit.
Together with its Member States, the EU has mobilised close to €1.4 billion of support to the response and has deployed experts, laboratories, vital equipment, research capacities, and a medical evacuation system at the service of all international health workers in the affected countries.
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_STATEMENT-15-4954_en.htm?locale=en
9/5/15
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Related:
L'OMS annonce la fin de l'épidémie d'Ebola au Liberia...
ReplyDeleteL'Organisation mondiale de la Santé a annoncé, samedi, la fin de l'épidémie d'Ebola au Liberia. Une "réalisation monumentale" dans un pays où l'épidémie a fait plus de 4 700 morts en un an.
Le Liberia a réussi à se débarasser du virus Ebola. C'est ce qu'a affirmé un responsable de l'Organisation mondiale de la Santé (OMS) lors d'une cérémonie officielle en présence de la présidente libérienne Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, samedi 9 mai. Un jour qui marque l'expiration d'un délai de deux fois la période maximale d'incubation (21 jours) depuis le dernier décès enregistré, sans autre nouveau cas.
"Aujourd'hui, 9 mai 2015, l'OMS déclare le Liberia exempt de la transmission du virus Ebola. Quarante-deux jours se sont écoulés depuis le dernier cas confirmé en laboratoire". Ce dernier, décédé, avait été inhumé le 28 mars. "L'épidémie d'Ebola au Liberia est terminée", a affirmé Alex Gasasira.
Le responsable de l'OMS a estimé que c'était une "une réalisation monumentale" pour le Liberia, qui a décompté en un an plus de 4 700 morts sur quelque 10 500 cas, avec, au pic de l'épidémie entre août et septembre 2014, "300 à 400 nouveaux cas par semaine". Et de saluer le gouvernement et les populations libériens "dont la détermination à vaincre Ebola n'a jamais vacillé, et dont le courage n'a jamais faibli" face à l'épidémie, la plus grave depuis l'identification du virus en 1976.
>> À voir sur France 24 : après Ebola, le Liberia à l'heure de la reconstruction
La présidente Sirleaf s'est félicitée de l'annonce, en rendant hommage à ses concitoyens, particulièrement aux personnels de santé qui ont payé un lourd tribu au virus : près de 380 d'entre eux ont été contaminés, et 189 ont perdu la vie d'après l'OMS.............http://www.france24.com/fr/20150509-oms-liberia-fin-epidemie-ebola
9/5/15