HIGHLIGHTS
All contacts related to the last confirmed EVD case in Liberia graduate from observation
The Government of Guinea (GoG) launches its first stay-at-home campaign in Forécariah Prefecture
Seven of Sierra Leone’s 14 districts have exceeded 42 days with no new confirmed EVD cases
Treatment capacity now surpasses demand as a result of declining EVD cases in Guinea and Sierra Leone
KEY DEVELOPMENTS
On April 13, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma signed a Memorandum of Cooperation to formalize the collaborative effort between the AU Commission and CDC toward creating the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (African CDC). The African CDC—which aims to assist African countries in effectively monitoring public health, responding to public health emergencies, and building needed capacity—is scheduled to launch later in 2015 with the establishment of an African Surveillance and Response Unit, which will include an emergency operations center. Between September 2014 and February 2015, the AU Support for Ebola Outbreak in West Africa mission sent more than 800 medical volunteers and public health responders to Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone to support the response to the EVD outbreak.
According to WHO, the declining EVD case incidence and receding zone of transmission reflect that EVD treatment capacity now exceeds demand in Liberia and Sierra Leone. EVD response actors are working with national authorities in both countries on plans to safely decommission the surplus EVD facilities while retaining a core capacity of high-quality, strategically located EVD treatment centers and additional rapid-response actors in reserve.