For the first time since the outbreak in May 2014, one full week has passed with no new cases of Ebola in Sierra Leone, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Wednesday.
According to WHO, the Ebola response is now moving into “phase 3” which means tracking down every chain of transmission and containing it as quickly as possible.
One village in Sierra Leone had been quarantined for 21 days after a trace of the virus was detected in the village. The village came out of quarantine on Friday, August 14.
Director of the National Ebola Response Centre (NERC) OB Sisay expresses caution toward the successes saying, "This does not mean Sierra Leone is suddenly Ebola free...As long as we have one Ebola case we still have an epidemic. People should continue to take the public health measures... around hand-washing, temperature checks, enhanced screening,” according to BBC.
President Ernest Bai Koroma came to celebrate the end of the quarantine and cut the quarantine tape, WHO said. However, amid the celebrations, Koroma urges the country to remain vigilant.
"You should report people who are sick and all dead bodies," the president said, according to Associated Press.
Ian Mackay of the Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre writes on his blog, Virology Down Under, "We may soon be seeing zero new cases for long periods of time.”
"Those blissful stretches [of zero cases] however, may be punctuated by a case arising from parts unknown," he adds.
After the last Ebola patient released, the country must go 42 days without a single case in order for it to be declared officially Ebola-free.
Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea are the three most affected countries with over 27,920 cases reported and over 11,280 deaths since the beginning of the outbreak.
