An Ebola epidemic was declared in Guinea on Sunday after multiple people died from the disease and several others are hospitalized.
At least three people have died from the virus, which causes diarrhea, internal hemorrhaging, and fever. Four others have been infected. The spread may have stemmed from the burial of a nurse on Feb. 1, and all present cases are people over the age of 25.
“The government reassures the population that all measures are being taken to stem this epidemic as quickly as possible. It invites the populations of the affected areas to respect hygiene and prevention measures and to report to health authorities in the presence of suggestive signs,” Guinean Health Minister Remy Lamah said.
Cases have been isolated to two cities, N’Zerekore and Conakry, and supplies have begun to arrive in the West African nation, including vaccinations from the World Health Organization. Neighboring nations, including Sierra Leone and Liberia, were roiled by outbreaks of the virus between 2014 and 2016, during which more than 11,300 people died. The two nations have put their citizens on high alert, according to the Associated Press.
The WHO developed its vaccines during the initial pandemic and announced last month that it would maintain 500,000 doses to combat future spread.
News of the spread comes as Guinea and the rest of the world deal with the pandemic brought on by the coronavirus. Guinea has had roughly 15,000 coronavirus cases since the onset of the pandemic, with 85 people succumbing to the virus.
Last week, the Democratic Republic of the Congo confirmed four cases of Ebola. However, they are not linked to the outbreak in Guinea. In 2018, the Congo experienced a similar onset in which 2,200 people in the nation died from the disease. In June 2020, Ebola resurfaced, killing four people in what was determined to be a follow-up to the initial spread.
“Time is of the essence. The resurgence of the virus in Guinea comes at the worst possible time when the country is already facing the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Mohammed Mukhier, the regional director for Africa for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. “Unless the response is swift, the health, economic, and social impacts are likely to be immense for millions of people in a country with a relatively weak health system and where more than half of the population lives below the poverty line.”
