The World Health Organization on Saturday said 129 contacts linked to the latest Ebola case in Guinea have been vaccinated.
A rapid Ebola vaccination roll out is being supported by the UN global health agency in Soulouta village in Guinea’s N’Zerekore region after the West African country reported its first new case of the Ebola virus in almost a month
A ring vaccination site has also been set up in the village located in the southeastern region which was the epicenter of the outbreak.
On Thursday, Guinea reported its first Ebola case in nearly a month bringing the number of cases to 19, including eight registered deaths. The case disrupted a countdown to Guinea being Ebola-free which began late last month.
The W.H.O. had announced the recovery of the last Ebola patient in Guinea on March 24, thereby triggering the countdown to formalize the end of the outbreak after 42 days without a new case.
Ebola is a highly contagious hemorrhagic fever that causes a range of symptoms including fever, vomiting, diarrhea, generalized pain or malaise and in many cases internal and external bleeding.
The worst Ebola virus outbreak began in Guinea and spread to Liberia and Sierra Leone between 2014 and 2016, and claimed more than 11,300 lives, with over 28,600 recorded cases.
