No new EBOLA cases in past Week - WHO

The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Thursday said no new Ebola infections were reported in West Africa in the past week, bringing Sierra Leone closer to its goal of becoming Ebola-free in early November.

It was the first week without any new cases since the epidemic started in March 2014.

“Sierra Leone has seen no new cases in three weeks. The government would declare the end of the epidemic on Nov. 8 if the situation continued,’’ WHO press officer, Margaret Harris, told newsmen.

While Guinea also recorded a week free of infections, 500 people who had been in contact with Ebola patients are still being monitored.

In addition, health workers have been unable to locate several people who pose a high risk because they had been in close contact with sick people.

“These things make us very wary,’’ Harris said.

Liberia was the third country affected by the outbreak, as it was declared Ebola-free in early September.

Report says since the first infections in West Africa in late 2013,over 28,400 people have fallen ill and nearly 11,300 have died from the viral hemorrhagic fever in the region.