WHO officials said an assessment of Guinea’s neighbors’ readiness showed shortcomings in their 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 those countries are unprepared for vaccination campaigns.
WHO’s Guinea representative, Georges Alfred Ki-Zerbo, said in a virtual session on Friday that 18 cases of Ebola had been identified so far and four of those infected had 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 the 2013-2016 outbreak, the worst in the world, which spread to several other African countries. western and killed more than 11,300 people.
The Ebola virus causes severe vomiting and diarrhea and is spread through contact with body fluids.
Officials said an assessment of Guinea’s neighbors’ preparedness (Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and Liberia) showed shortcomings in their readiness.
“There are six neighboring countries in Guinea and we made an assessment of availability. Two of the countries are unprepared and one is borderline and there are three more or less prepared countries, ”WHO regional emergency director Abdou Salam Gueye said by video conference from Guinea.
He said none of the neighboring countries were fully prepared to start Ebola vaccines, should they be needed, and that in no case were there enough doses available to start preventive vaccination.
“But these neighboring countries agreed on 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. This week Guinea received doses of COVID-19 vaccine given from China.
“We are facing fairly fragile health systems, including the (lack of) ability to meet many public health challenges, so tackling both COVID and Ebola remains a challenge,” said Michel Yao, director of WHO strategic health operations.
‘We need to act fast’
Separately, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Thursday launched a call to raise $ 8 million for efforts to stop the resurgence of the Ebola virus in Guinea.
The funds will be used to support essential epidemic preparedness and response activities, as well as critical coordination efforts at the national and prefectural levels and major border crossings, the United Nations said in a statement. .
“We have witnessed the devastation that action on public health emergencies can delay for a community and societies at large,” said Maximilian Díaz, head of IOM Guinea.
“We have to stand by the people of Guinea and act quickly.”