1 . The present letter on the work of the United Nations in response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa covers developments from 1 January until 1 February 2015, the 120-day mark since the establishment of the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER). It records activities carried out by my Special Envoy on Ebola and UNMEER, and provides an update on progress made in the Ebola response pursuant to General Assembly resolution 69/1 since my update of 12 January 2015 (A/69/720).
Current situation of the Ebola outbreak
2 . As at 1 February 2015, a total of 22,495 confirmed, probable and suspected cases of Ebola have been reported in four affected countries (Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) and five previously affected countries (Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Spain and the United States of America). A total of 8,981 people have died of Ebola as of the reporting period.
3 . The month of January saw an overall significant decline in the number of new cases of Ebola in the three most affected countries. While the overall trend that month was encouraging, the weekly case incidence increased in all three countries for the first time in 2015 with 124 new confirmed cases reported in the week to 1 February, including 39 in Guinea, 5 in Liberia and 80 in Sierra Leone. This demonstrates that setbacks can quickly follow apparent gains, highlighting the need for constant vigilance to ensure that this promising decline is not reversed and is sustained, especially through the impending rainy season. The rains may compound the difficulties that the response faces through contributing to an increase in the prevalence of cases of malaria, which could potentially be mistaken for suspect cases, and may significantly impede access to affected communities in remote districts. These factors heighten the urgency to get the outbreak under control quickly before the onset of the rains.