WHO officials say a calculation for Guinea’s neighbors shows gaps in their preparedness for the Ebola outbreak.
World Health Organization officials say the risk of an Ebola outbreak spreading to Guinea’s neighbors is “very high” and that some of the countries are unprepared for vaccinations.
Georges Alfred Ki-Zerbo, representative of the WHO, said at a virtual briefing on Friday that so far 18 cases of Ebola have been identified and that four of those infected have died.
So far, 1,604 people have been vaccinated against Ebola during the new outbreak in Guinea, the first revival of the virus there since an outbreak of 2013-2016 – the worst in the world – which has spread to several other West African countries and more than Killed 11,300 people.
The Ebola virus causes severe vomiting and diarrhea and spreads through contact with body fluids.
Officials said a calculation for Guinea’s neighbors – Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and Liberia – showed gaps in their preparedness.
‘There are six neighboring countries to Guinea and we did the preparedness assessment. Two of the countries are not ready yet and one is borderless and there are three countries more or less ready, ‘said WHO’s local emergency director, Abdou Salam Gueye, at a video conference in Guinea.
He said that none of the neighboring countries were completely ready to start Ebola vaccinations if necessary, and that in any case there were not enough doses of vaccinations available to prevent vaccination.
“But neighboring countries have agreed on cross-border cooperation and coordination to control the outbreak,” he said.
Ebola vaccines, like some COVID-19 shots, require cold-chain storage, which presents logistical challenges. Guinea received COVID-19 doses donated from China this week.
“We are dealing with very fragile health systems, including (lack of) ability to address many public health challenges, so tackling COVID and Ebola is a challenge,” said Michel Yao, director of strategic health operations.
“We must act quickly”
Separately, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Thursday called for $ 8 million in efforts to halt the recovery of the Ebola virus in Guinea.
The funds will be used to support essential activities for preparedness and response to the outbreak, as well as critical coordination efforts at the national and prefectural level and important border crossings, the United Nations body said in a statement.
“We have witnessed the devastation that public health emergency response can cause to a community and communities in general,” said Maximilian Diaz, head of IOM Guinea.
“We must stand by the people of Guinea, and we must act quickly.”