HIGHLIGHTS
Sierra Leone discharges final Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) patient; no new EVD cases reported in the country for the second consecutive week
Overall weekly EVD case incidence across EVD-affected West African countries has remained at three confirmed cases for four consecutive weeks
All EVD contacts in Liberia complete 21-day monitoring period; countrywide surveillance efforts continue
KEY DEVELOPMENTS
The Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL) Ministry of Health and Sanitation discharged the country’s final EVD patient from the Makeni EVD treatment unit (ETU) in Bombali District on August 24. GoSL President Ernest Bai Koroma presided over a ceremony marking the event and attended by USG Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) members, CDC representatives, and other EVD response actors. The GoSL also reported no new confirmed EVD cases during the week of August 17–23. Case investigators continue to monitor 38 contacts of known cases in Western Area, all of whom will complete their quarantine or monitoring period by August 29, provided no additional EVD cases occur. The UN World Health Organization (WHO) will declare the end of the current EVD outbreak in Sierra Leone following 42 days of no confirmed cases; the 42-day period began August 25.
For the first time in four weeks, a health care worker contracted EVD during the week of August 17–23, according to WHO. The case was reported in Conakry, Guinea.