Feb 15, 2021 - Health

Guinea declares Ebola epidemic amid coronavirus pandemic

Rebecca Falconer

A group of health officers from the Doctors Without Borders team are at the Ebola Health Center that they founded in Gueckedou region of Guinea, on September 17, 2014. — Doctors Without Borders health workers at an Ebola health center in the Gueckedou region of Guinea in 2014. Photo: Fabien Offner/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Guinea's Ministry of Health on Monday declared an Ebola epidemic after three people died from the virus and four others became infected in the West African country.

Why it matters: West Africa is still struggling with COVID-19 cases. Guinea's Ebola epidemic follows fresh cases of the disease in the Democratic Republic of Congo, three months after the DRC's last outbreak was declared eradicated, per the New York Times.

With the epicenter of Guinea's Ebola outbreak in a border area, the World Health Organization is working with health authorities in nearby Liberia and Sierra Leone in case these nations have also been affected by the virus, the WHO said in a statement Monday.

For the record: Guinea was one of the worst-affected countries during the 2014–2016 West Africa Ebola outbreak. It was declared free of Ebola five years ago.

Guinea has reported nearly 15,000 coronavirus cases, including 85 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins data.

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Guinea declares Ebola epidemic amid coronavirus pandemic

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