Ebola: 9 new cases reported in Guinea

Authorities in Guinea have confirmed at least nine new cases of Ebola in the southwest region of Forecariah near the border with Sierra Leone one of the countries that were  hardest hit by the outbreak.

A four-day, door-to-door campaign was launched on Sunday in the Forecariah region to try to improve community participation in reporting suspected Ebola cases.

It was also part part 45-day emergency drive to tackle Ebola in the west of the country.Sakoba Keita, national coordinator for the fight against Ebola in the West African country, told Reuters that authorities had also detected 10 suspicious deaths in the community but only one of these had been confirmed as Ebola.

Keita said 92 percent of households in Forecariah had been reached in the four-day program.

The Ebola epidemic, which started deep in the forests of southeastern Guinea in December 2013, is believed to have killed more than 10,600 people and infected 25,791 in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, according to the World Health Organization.

In its latest weekly report Wednesday, the WHO said 37 confirmed cases had been reported in the week that ended Sunday, up from 30 the previous week.

Of those, 28 were recorded in Guinea and the rest were in Sierra Leone.

The outbreak in Guinea is concentrated in the western area around the coastal capital, Conakry. Forecariah lies on the main road south from Conakry to the border with Sierra Leone.

The WHO said 17 confirmed Ebola cases had been detected in Forecariah in the week that ended Sunday. Keita said that community’s reluctance to curb traditional burial practices, which involve touching the dead, was the principal reason for the continued spread of the infectious virus.