Ebola Cases Fall Sharply, W.H.O. Reports

The number of new Ebola diagnoses in Sierra Leone and Guinea reached its lowest point in well over a year last week, according to the World Health Organization, with only one reported case in each country. There were no new cases in Liberia, the third nation most severely affected by the outbreak.

“That progress is real,” Dr. Bruce Aylward, an assistant director general of the organization, said Tuesday at a news conference in Geneva.

Dr. Aylward said it was realistic to expect the epidemic to be quelled by the end of the year. “We can get there,” he said.

He cautioned that in the interim there would probably be additional flare-ups of the disease, which has killed more than 11,000 people since this outbreak emerged in Guinea in late 2013. Already two new Ebola diagnoses have been made since Sunday, and responders are tracking close to 2,000 people potentially exposed within the past 21 days, some of whom could still fall sick.
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Even after the outbreak is over, continued vigilance and rapid response teams will be required for an additional year, Dr. Aylward said, because the virus could re-emerge and is thought to be transmitted in rare cases from healthy survivors through unprotected sexual activity. Dr. Aylward said the W.H.O. would consider the role of an experimental Ebola vaccine — reported last week to be protective in a preliminary study — and for rapid diagnostic tests. Though those tests could deliver results in minutes as opposed to hours, they are thought to be less precise than those requiring sophisticated lab equipment.
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Graphic: Getting to Zero Ebola Cases

One such test, known as OraQuick, which was rushed into development by OraSure Technologies with support from the United States Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority last fall, received Food and Drug Administration authorization on Friday for use in emergencies. Another, the ReEBOV Antigen Rapid Test by Corgenix Inc., was authorized in March.

In an interview Thursday, Dr. Margaret Chan, director-general of the W.H.O., said efforts were underway to “improve the World Health Organization’s capacity and capability to respond in a quick and effective manner for any outbreak or emergencies with health consequences.”

Country health systems will also need to be strengthened, Dr. Tim Evans, a senior director at the World Bank, said in an interview. “We really need to think about how to invest in health workers in such a way that they’re going to be a credible first line of defense,” he said.