It has been 2 months since new Ebola infections, according to WHO, thus nailing the coffin of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
Although this is so, we mustn’t forget that in Liberia, which was declared Ebola free the latter of 2015, the virus re-emerged based on one previously infected person. Meaning that in order to keep the virus off of our streets, response mechanisms should constantly be at bay, with society readily aware of how to stay safe from Ebola.
Society doesn’t only include West Africa, but extends to the global community. According to Joanne Liu International President of Doctors without borders, the global community must learn from this experience (ebola in west Africa) to improve on the response to future epidemics and to neglected diseases,”.
The Ebola Virus Disease was discovered in 1976 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and due an intense lack of research and development on countering this virus an unsuspecting outbreak in a small part of West Africa led to over thousands dying when a possible vaccination could have been discovered then, as to creating one in the course of the outbreak. Citizens of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone became test subjects to Ebola’s vaccination at a time where the outbreak of Ebola loomed over streets and households.
Now that the Ebola Outbreak is officially over, work on research, development and response mechanisms increase. Response mechanisms include surveillance teams and screening and counselling systems to eradicate the virus while keeping away stigmatization of previously infected patients. According to the World Health Organization, the Sierra Leonean and Liberian governments have implemented voluntary semen screening and counselling programs through partnerships with WHO and the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. So far 405 male survivors accessed screening services in Liberia and Sierra Leone (as of January 3rd). In addition, clinical services dedicated to the Ebola Virus Disease are also necessary and have been implemented, having up to 3000 survivors accessing basic clinical services.
In a nutshell, as the book of Ebola in West Africa is closed, we keep the book sealed with international and continental response teams, with the governments of Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea at the forefront.
SOURCE: WHO, USCDC
