Guinea reports last known Ebola case cured

Guinea reports last known Ebola patient recovers

Guinea's last known Ebola patient, a 20-day-old baby, has reportedly recovered from the disease. Officials added, however, that he remained under surveillance at a medical facility in the capital Conakry.

The last known Ebola patient in Guinea, a neonate, had been born to an infected mother at the Nongo Ebola treatment centre. The mother did not survive the disease.

The baby's recovery has raised hopes that Guinea, the last country still battling the virus, could begin its 42-day countdown to ending the outbreak, as outlined by the World Health Organization (WHO). It would effectively mean the #link:18767234:end of Ebola in West Africa#.

"We did two tests after the treatment and they came back negative," said the spokesman for Guinea's Ebola coordination unit, Fodé Tass Sylla, adding that the baby remained under close surveillance.

With individual cases of Ebola repeatedly surfacing across the country over the past months and many infections going unreported in the past, it remained unclear whether this was indeed the last case in Guinea. Neighboring Sierra Leona was declared #link:18833985:Ebola-free# ten days ago.

The worst known Ebola epidemic in history began in Guinea's forest region nearly two years ago and has since killed around 11,300 people, predominantly in West Africa.

ss/jil (Reuters, epd)