Ebola Flare-Up Ends in Sierra Leone, Says WHO

It is the end of a recent ebola flare-up in Sierra Leone, where thousands have been afflicted, says the World Health Organization on Thursday.

It's "important to remember" that this is actually the second time that human-to-human transmission in Sierra Leone has been stopped, noted  Lee Norman, MD, of the University of Kansas Hospital, an expert in responses to health crises.

The two incubation periods of 42 days had gone by since the patients had shown to be negative for the virus. Yet, a few hours following the WHO declaration, Guinea said that two citizens had tested positive for the illness.

About 3,590 people were killed in Sierra Leone. The illness had struck it, apart from its neighboring nations, Guinea and Liberia, where thousands had died.

For months, ebola was spreading, and there are fears of many more cases in the future too. The survivors are thought to be carrying the virus in some bodily fluids for many months after the illness. They can pass it on through sexual intercourse.

Male survivors can possibly be carrying it in the testes. In a small study reported last month, it was found that about 73% of male survivors still harbour detectable Ebola RNA in their semen even 49 days after they were afflicted with the disease.

With more than half the survivors being male, more such transmissions are possible. But on the positive side, every passing day makes the transmission unlikely.

"We don't know what the rate of decay is," said an expert, "but it presumably falls off with time."

While the governments in affected areas have succeeded in their struggle to contain it, nations "must remain on high alert and ready to respond" said WHO.

On January 14, the WHO said that West Africa is Ebola-free. "Detecting and breaking every chain of transmission has been a monumental achievement," said Dr. Margaret Chan, the WHO director-general.