Guinea begins countdown to end of Ebola outbreak

Guinea's last Ebola patient was discharged from the treatment centre over the weekend.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said this marked the beginning of a 42-day countdown to declare the end of Ebola outbreak in the country.

WHO tweeted a photo of the last patient leaving the facility:

“The last confirmed #Ebola patient in #Guinea was released from the Ebola Treatment Centre & rejoined her family in Kpagalaye yesterday morning. With no more confirmed Ebola cases, a 42-day countdown to declaring the end of Guinea's Ebola outbreak has officially begun.”

In February, Guinea declared it was dealing with Ebola after reporting its first death since 2016.

The WHO responded with newly developed vaccines to contain the epidemic that claimed thousands of lives in several West African countries between 2013 and 2016.

This article originally appeared on BBC News

Photo: WHO African Region/Twitter