WHO officials said a readiness assessment for Guinea’s neighbors showed gaps in its preparation 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 these countries are not prepared for vaccination campaigns.
WHO representative in Guinea, Georges Alfred Ki-Zerbo, said in a virtual briefing on Friday that so far 18 cases of Ebola have been identified and four of those infected have died.
So far, 1,604 people have been vaccinated against Ebola in the new outbreak in Guinea, the first resurgence of the virus there since a 2013-2016 outbreak – the worst in the world – which has spread to several other West African countries and killed more than 11,300 people.
The Ebola virus causes severe vomiting and diarrhea and is transmitted by contact with body fluids.
Authorities said a readiness assessment for Guinea’s neighbors – Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Côte d’Ivoire, Sierra Leone and Liberia – showed gaps in its preparation.
“There are six neighboring countries in Guinea and we carried out a readiness assessment. Two of the countries are not ready and one is on the border and there are three more or less ready countries, ”said WHO Regional Director for Emergency, Abdou Salam Gueye, by videoconference from Guinea.
He said that none of the neighboring countries was completely ready to start vaccination against Ebola, if necessary, and that there were no doses of vaccines available in any case to start vaccinating preventively.
“But these neighboring countries have agreed to cross-border cooperation and coordination to control the outbreak,” he said.
Ebola vaccines, like some COVID-19 vaccines, require ultra-cold chain storage, which presents logistical challenges. Guinea received doses of the COVID-19 vaccine donated from China this week.
“We are dealing with very fragile health systems, including (lack of) the capacity to deal with many public health challenges, so dealing with COVID and Ebola remains a challenge,” said Michel Yao, WHO, director of operations health strategies.
‘We must act fast’
Separately, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Thursday launched an appeal to raise $ 8 million for efforts to prevent the Ebola virus from resurging in Guinea.
The funds will be used to support essential outbreak preparedness and response activities, as well as critical coordination efforts at national and municipal levels and at major border crossings, the United Nations body said in a statement.
“We witness the devastation that delayed action in public health emergencies can cause to a community and to societies in general”, Maximilian Diaz, head of IOM Guinea.
“We must support the people of Guinea and we must act quickly.”