Vaccines to "Protect the contacts of patients and surround the epidemic".
From the tarmac in Conakry, where 11,300 doses of Ebola vaccine were delivered on Monday, February 23, WHO consultant in Guinea George Ki-Zerbo unveiled the strategy for the vaccine campaign which begins on Tuesday.
An epidemic reappeared in the country ten days ago which "worries Guinea, but also its neighbors" he said.
The 11,300 doses of Merck vaccine provided by the World Health Organization (WHO) were originally due to land on Sunday, but the plane from Geneva was prevented from landing by thick seasonal clouds of dust and was rerouted on Senegal and Dakar.
A plane from United Mining Supply, a transport and logistics company specializing in mining activity in Guinea, was dispatched to Senegal to ensure the transhipment and transport the vaccines.
Fears for neighboring countries
The heavy boxes bearing the OMS logo were unloaded in Guinea in the evening.
Some of them must continue on their way to Gouecké and Nzérékoré (south-east), in Forest Guinea, a region neighboring Sierra Leone, Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire where Ebola recently killed five people.
This is the first outbreak of Ebola in West Africa since the 2013-2016 epidemic that caused more than 11,300 deaths, mainly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Ebola has also recently reappeared in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The first phase of vaccination is planned for Conakry and Forest Guinea.
As of Wednesday, 8,700 additional doses are expected in Guinea from the United States.
The Ebola virus is transmitted to humans from infected animals.
Human transmission occurs through bodily fluids, with the main symptoms of fever, vomiting, bleeding or diarrhea.
With AFP
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