SUMMARY
- A total of 18 confirmed cases of Ebola virus disease (EVD) was reported in the week to 3 May: Guinea and Sierra Leone each reported 9 cases. This is the lowest weekly total this year, and comes after a month - long period during which case incidence fluctuated between 3 and 37 confirmed cases per week. That both countries have each reported fewer than 10 cases is encouraging, but it is important to guard against complacency. Liberia has reported fewer than 10 cases per week since the start of January this year, but the outbreak will be declared to have ended only if no new cases are reported up to 9 May, which marks 42 complete days since the burial of the last confirmed case.
A total of 9 cases were reported from Forecariah prefecture in Guinea, with the remaining 9 cases reported from the two Sierra Leonean districts of Kambia ( which borders Forecariah) and Western Area Urban, which includes the capital, Freetown. This is the lowest total number of districts to report a confirmed case in the 3 most - affected countries since May 2014. Of 55 districts in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone that have reported one or more confirmed cases of EVD since the outbreak began, 4 have not reported a case for over 6 weeks .
Forecariah was the only prefecture in Guinea to report confirmed case s in the week to 3 May, compared with 5 prefectures that reported at least one case the previous week. However, it is a large prefecture, and the 9 reported cases were widely dispersed throughout 6 separate sub - prefectures. Additionally, 5 of the 9 reported cases were identified post mortem after the investigation of deaths in community settings, although 1 of those 5 was a registered contact of a previous case. In total, 4 of the 9 case s were registered contacts of a previous case. There were also 36 unsafe burials reported from 7 prefectures in the week to 3 May. This represents 10% of a total of 368 recorded deaths in the 7 prefectures. A total of 374 laboratory samples were tested in the week to 3 May, although data are missing from 1 laboratory. 4% tested positive for EVD (this includes repeat testing). Taken together, these indicators suggest that tracking transmission chains is still challenging, and there remains a possibility of a n increase in case incidence and/or geographical spread in coming weeks.
The 9 cases reported from Sierra Leone were divided between 2 distinct geographical clusters. Most (5) of the cases were reported from the district of Kambia, which also reported 8 c ases in the previous week. Within the district, cases were concentrated in the Chiefdoms of Magbema (4 cases) and Gbinle Dixing (1 case), the latter of which directly borders the Guinean prefecture of Forecariah. All of the remaining 4 cases were reported from the Moa Wharf area of the East 1 Chiefdom of Freetown. Of the 9 reported cases, 3 were identified after post - mortem investigation of deaths that occurred in a community setting: 1 in Moa Wharf and 2 in Magbema. In addition, only 2 of the 9 cases were identified registered contacts of a previous case. However, after further investigation, an additional 5 of the 9 cases were found to have an epidemiological link to a known chain of transmission. Laboratory indicators continue to reflect a heightened degr ee of vigilance, with 1654 new samples tested in the week to 3 May. Less than 1% tested positive.
The last confirmed case in Liberia died on 27 March and was buried on 28 March . Heightened vigilance is being maintained throughout the country. In the week t o 3 May, 319 new laboratory samples were tested for EVD, with no confirmed cases.
For the third consecutive week, no new health worker infection s were reported in the week to May. There have been a total of 86 confirmed health worker infections reported from Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone since the start of the outbreak, with 50 reported deaths.