SUMMARY
Human-to-human transmission linked to the most recent cluster of 2 cases of Ebola virus disease (EVD) first reported from Sierra Leone on 14 January will be declared to have ended on 17 March, 42 days after the second and last case in the cluster provided a second consecutive negative blood sample (RT-PCR) and was discharged. Human-to-human transmission linked to the most recent cluster of cases in Liberia was declared to have ended on 14 January 2016. Guinea was declared free of Ebola transmission linked directly to the original outbreak on 29 December 2015, and will complete its 90-day period of enhanced surveillance on 27 March 2016.
With guidance from WHO and other partners, ministries of health in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone have plans to deliver a package of essential services to safeguard the health of the estimated more than 10 000 survivors. So far over 350 male survivors in Liberia have accessed semen screening and counselling services. In addition, over 2600 survivors in Sierra Leone have accessed a general health assessment and eye exam.
To manage the residual risks of Ebola reintroduction or re-emergence, WHO has supported the implementation of enhanced surveillance systems in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone to alert authorities to cases of febrile illness or death that may be related to EVD. In the week to 13 March, 1611 alerts were reported in Guinea from all of the country’s 34 prefectures. All alerts were reports of community deaths. Over the same period, 9 operational laboratories in Guinea tested a total of 370 new and repeat samples (17 samples from live patients and 353 from community deaths) from 17 of the country’s 34 prefectures. In Liberia, 663 alerts were reported from all of the country’s 15 counties, most of which (544) were related to live patients. The country’s 5 operational laboratories tested 595 new and repeat samples (399 from live patients and 196 from community deaths) for Ebola virus over the same period, compared with 921 samples the previous week. In Sierra Leone 1494 alerts were reported from the country’s 14 districts. The majority of alerts (1142) were for community deaths. 952 new and repeat samples (19 from live patients and 933 from community deaths) were tested for Ebola virus by the country’s 7 operational laboratories over the same period.