(Newswire.net — March 31, 2016) — In February 2014, the WHO, CDC, and UN declared an official Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Despite modern medicine and worldwide efforts to contain the situation, it was the largest Ebola outbreak in history, affecting multiple countries. Containment efforts began immediately, and now that two years have passed, it appears these efforts paid off. According to WHO, Ebola is no longer a threat.
Some of the key countries affected by Ebola included Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea, where over the last two and a half years, more than 11,000 people died from the virus. Organizations have closely monitored the situation in these counties since December of 2013. The announcement that the scare was over came immediately after health organizations reviewed the current state of the region and found it to be less of a threat than they originally thought.
“The committee noted that since its last meeting, all three countries have met the criteria for confirming interruption of their original chains of Ebola virus transmission,” WHO said. “Specifically, all three countries have now completed the 42-day observation period and additional 90-day enhanced surveillance period since their last case that was linked to the original chain of transmission twice tested negative.”
There have been some flare-ups in the three countries, but the original scare is over. Male survivors are cautioned to use protection, however, as they can infect sexual partners for up to a year following recovery.
International health organizations are looking to prevent Ebola in the future. Two of the three countries have been free of the Ebola virus for several months, but the organizations were afraid to make the announcement, just in case the virus returned. “Complacency at this stage would be completely wrong,” Robert Steffen, the WHO’s vice chair told the Washington Post.
The few cases that have arisen over the last couple of months are being closely monitored, but the WHO says they are not a sign that the epidemic is back in full force, and that these few cases aren’t a result of the 2013 chain of outbreaks. They are independent cases that can be contained and kept from spreading. “We know that little clusters will continue to flare up. That will be normal life just as in previous decades, there have been every now and then, outbreaks of Ebola in various parts of sub-Saharan Africa,” Steffen said.
Perhaps the most important aspect of this announcement is that travel and trade restrictions currently affecting these countries will be lifted, according to Margaret Chan, Director-General for WHO. This is an incredibly important moment for the economies in these countries. The restrictions were put in place to prevent the virus from spreading, but they put a heavy strain on the economies of the region. Now that these countries are free from the virus, trade and tourism can resume.
The one message WHO wants the world to consider is prevention. Being wary when traveling and supporting organizations working to develop an Ebola vaccine are essential to preventing any outbreaks in the future.