WHO officially declares Sierra Leone Ebola-free

World Health Organization (WHO), a U.N. health agency has officially declared Sierra Leone Ebola-free.
This announcement is considered as a major milestone in UN-backed efforts to wipe out Ebola from the three western African countries viz. Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
Key facts

• WHO’s announcement comes after no new cases were reported over two incubation periods of human-to-human transmission of Ebola virus, each of 21 days (Total 42 days) in Sierra Leone.
• Now, Sierra Leone’s neighbour Guinea is the only western African country still having few reported cases Ebola since the deadly outbreak began in December 2013.
• Earlier in May 2015, WHO had officially declared Liberia as first country to be Ebola-free.
• Since May 2014 after the first Ebola case was reported in Sierra Leone, total 8,704 people were infected with the deadly disease and around 3,589 have died due it, of them 221 are healthcare workers.

Summary of Ebola Outbreak

• The current Ebola outbreak is considered as the deadliest in history. It was initially centred on Guinea’s remote south-eastern region of Nzerekore in early 2013 and later had spread to Liberia and Sierra Leone.
• Liberia was worst hit among the western African nations in this outbreak. As per WHO estimates, the deadly epidemic has infected more than 28,600 people across the three hardest-hit West African nations and has claimed 11,300 lives since December 2013.

Month: Current Affairs - November, 2015