Guinea has declared an Ebola epidemic after three people have died from the virus. The first deaths recorded and at least seven new cases of the deadly virus were confirmed since 2016.
The cases marked the first known resurgence of Ebola in West Africa. The patients felt ill with diarrhea, vomiting, and bleeding after attending the burial of a nurse.
Health officials said that newly developed vaccines will be acquired through the World Health Organization (WHO), according to a BBC report.
At least 11,000 people have died from 2013-2016 in West Africa due to the Ebola epidemic.
The WHO said that the virus heavily affected Guinea and its neighbours Liberia and Sierra Leone. Several vaccines have been successful in containing the outbreaks.
“The WHO is on full alert and is in contact with the manufacturer [of a vaccine] to ensure the necessary doses are made available as quickly as possible to help fight back,” Alfred George Ki-Zerbo, the WHO representative in Guinea, told AFP News.
The outbreak was believed to have started from the burial of a nurse who died from the virus last January 28.
Community funerals, where people help wash the body of the deceased, can be a source of virus transmission. The virus incubation lasts from 2 days to 3 weeks.
Neighboring countries have since been on alert due to the potential spread of the virus.
