2014 Ebola Outbreak in West Africa

Highlights

The Guinean Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Health and Sanitation of Sierra Leone, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare of Liberia, and the Nigerian Ministry of Health are working with national and international partners to investigate and respond to the outbreak.

Guinea

• August 11, 2014, the Guinea Ministry of Health announced a total of 510 suspect and confirmed cases of Ebola virus disease (EVD), including 377 fatal cases.
• Affected districts include Conakry, Guéckédou, Macenta, Kissidougou, Dabola, Djingaraye, Télimélé, Boffa, Kouroussa, Dubreka, Fria, Siguiri, Pita, Nzerekore, and Yamou; several are no longer active areas of EVD transmission (see map).
• 369 cases across Guinea have been confirmed by laboratory testing to be positive for Ebola virus infection.
• In Guinea's capital city, Conakry, 95 suspect cases have been reported to meet the clinical definition for EVD, including 42 fatal cases.

Liberia

• August 11, 2014, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare of Liberia and WHO have reported 670 suspect and confirmed EHF cases (including 166 laboratory confirmations) and 355 reported fatalities.

Nigeria

• August 11, 2014, the Nigerian Ministry of Health and WHO reported 12 suspect and confirmed cases, including 10 laboratory confirmed and 3 fatal cases.

Sierra Leone

• August 11, 2014, the Ministry of Health and Sanitation of Sierra Leone and WHO reported a cumulative total of 783 suspect and confirmed cases, including 706 laboratory confirmations and 334 reported fatal cases.
• Cases have been reported from all 12 Sierra Leone districts.

About the virus

• Genetic analysis of the virus indicates that it is closely related (97% identical) to variants of Ebola virus (species Zaire ebolavirus) identified earlier in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Gabon (Baize et al. 2014).