Guinea begins 42-day countdown to declaring free status

Health officials in Guinea said the country can now begin its 42-day countdown to declaring an end to Ebola outbreak, after last patient recovered.

Fodé Sylla, Spokesman for Guinea's Ebola Coordination Unit, said on Wednesday in Conakry that a baby girl, who was the last known Ebola patient in a two-year regional epidemic, has recovered from the disease.

He said the baby had remained under surveillance at a medical facility in Conakry.

"The baby's recovery means that Guinea can begin its 42-day countdown to declaring an end to outbreak,’’ he said.

Sylla said the two tests ran on the baby turned up negative, indicating that she was completely cured of Ebola.

Laurence Sailly, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) Emergency Coordinator in Guinea, said the baby, named Nubia, was born on Oct. 27 in the Nongo Ebola treatment centre to an infected mother who did not survive.

He said Nubia received treatment from medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF).

"We are pleased that she has been tested negative, but as she is the first infected baby to have recovered, Nubia will continue to receive specialised medical support before going back home," he said.

He noted that 68 people who had been in contact with the country's last cluster of patients and were deemed at risk of developing the haemorrhagic fever were released from quarantine on Saturday.

It has since killed more than 11,300 people, nearly all of them in West African neighbours Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Meanwhile, in a major breakthrough, neighbouring Sierra Leone was declared Ebola-free on Nov. 7.