Ebola outbreak continues with 8 new cases, including 3 deaths

March 18th, 2015

Though it seems to have fallen out of the mainstream news cycle, the Ebola virus outbreak in Guinea, West Africa is not over. Indeed, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports that as of May 23, 2014, 8 new cases and 3 new deaths were reported from one newly affected district, Telimele (3 cases and 0 deaths) and two existing affected areas, Gueckedou (2 cases and 0 deaths) and Macenta (3 cases and 3 deaths).

Since the beginning of the outbreak, the cumulative total number of clinical cases of Ebola is 258, including 174 deaths.

In response to the new cluster of cases and deaths in Guinea, the WHO has redeployed experts to the affected areas to support the investigation and is conducting active case search and contact follow-up. A team of social mobilization experts trained by WHO has also been redeployed to support public health awareness with an emphasis on approaches to addressing community resistance in some villages.

WHO does not recommend that any travel or trade restrictions be applied to Guinea or Liberia based on the current information available for the Ebola outbreak.