The last known patient suffering from Ebola in Guinea has been cured and released from a treatment center at the Guinean capital, Conakry, say health officials. The good news arrived after two tests on the patient, a 20-month-old baby girl, came out negative. If there are no new cases of Ebola reported in the next six weeks, then Guinea will be officially free of the virus.
Ebola has claimed more than 11,000 lives in West Africa. The neighboring Sierra Leone and Liberia have already been declared Ebola-free, according to BBC News.
The baby girl, Nubia, is the last known patient that was suffering from a two-year regional epidemic. She remains under surveillance at a medical facility for closer monitoring.
"We did two tests that turned up negative. She is completely cured of Ebola," said Fodé Tass Sylla, spokesman for Guinea's Ebola coordination unit.
Nubia was born on Oct. 27 in the Nongo Ebola Treatment Center. Her mother was already infected by the epidemic and did not survive. Nubia's freedom from the disease came through support by the medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), according to Reuters.
"We are pleased that she has been tested negative, but as she is the first infected baby to have recovered, she will continue to receive specialized medical support before going back home," said Laurence Sailly, MSF's emergency coordinator in Guinea.
The current is the worst of the outbreak that the region has seen since it first developed in 1976. Nubia's mother was only 25 when she succumbed to the disease. Her family is from the last Ebola-affected area in the country - Forecariah prefecture. The people remain hopeful that Guinea will be able to join its neighbors in being Ebola free as Guinea starts its 42-day probationary period, according to Medical Xpress.
