Update: Ebola Virus Disease Epidemic — West Africa, January 2015

MMWR Weekly Vol. 64, No. 04 February 6, 2015

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Update: Ebola Virus Disease Epidemic — West Africa, January 2015

Weekly

February 6, 2015 / 64(04);109-110

On January 30, 2015, this report was posted as an MMWR Early Release on the MMWR website (http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr).

Incident Management System Ebola Epidemiology Team, CDC; Guinea Interministerial Committee for Response Against the Ebola Virus; World Health Organization; CDC Guinea Response Team; Liberia Ministry of Health and Social Welfare; CDC Liberia Response Team; Sierra Leone Ministry of Health and Sanitation; CDC Sierra Leone Response Team; Viral Special Pathogens Branch, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, CDC

CDC is assisting ministries of health and working with other organizations to end the ongoing epidemic of Ebola virus disease (Ebola) in West Africa (1). The updated data in this report were compiled from situation reports from the Guinea Interministerial Committee for Response Against the Ebola Virus, the Liberia Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the Sierra Leone Ministry of Health and Sanitation, and the World Health Organization.

According to the latest World Health Organization update on January 28, 2015 (3), a total of 22,092 confirmed, probable, and suspected cases of Ebola and 8,810 deaths had been reported as of January 25 from the three West African countries (Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone) where transmission has been widespread and intense. Total case counts include all suspected, probable, and confirmed cases, which are defined similarly by each country (2). Because of improvements in laboratory diagnostics and surveillance, in recent weeks totals may overestimate the actual number of cases in some areas. The highest reported confirmed case counts were from Sierra Leone (7,968) and Liberia (3,138), followed by Guinea (2,569). During the week ending January 24, an average of 11 confirmed cases were reported from Sierra Leone, less than one from Liberia, and three from Guinea each day. The areas with the highest number of confirmed cases reported during January 5–25 were the Western Area and Port Loko, Sierra Leone (Figure).

Eight cases and six deaths were previously reported from Mali (4,5). No new confirmed cases have been reported from Mali since December 5, 2014. On January 18, 2015, the World Health Organization declared Mali free of Ebola (6).

The latest updates on the ongoing Ebola epidemic in West Africa, including case counts, are available at http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/outbreaks/2014-west-africa/index.html. The most up-to-date infection control and clinical guidelines for the Ebola epidemic in West Africa are available athttp://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/hcp/index.html.

Acknowledgments

World Health Organization. Geospatial Research, Analysis, and Services Program, CDC. Situational Awareness Team, Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response, CDC.

References

1. Dixon MG, Schafer IJ. Ebola viral disease outbreak—West Africa, 2014. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2014;63:548–51.
2. World Health Organization. Case definition recommendations for Ebola or Marburg virus diseases. Available athttp://www.who.int/csr/resources/publications/ebola/ebola-case-definition-contact-en.pdf .
3. World Health Organization. Ebola response roadmap situation report, 28 January 2015. Available at http://www.who.int/csr/disease/ebola/situation-reports/archive/en.
4. CDC. Update: Ebola virus disease epidemic—West Africa, December 2014. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2014;63:1199–201.
5. CDC. 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa—case counts. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/outbreaks/2014-west-africa/case-counts.html.
6. Ministère de la Santé et de l'Hygiène Publique. Message du representant de l'oms pour la declaration de fin d'epidemie de maladie a virus Ebola au Mali. Available at http://www.sante.gov.ml/index.php/ebola/item/2335-message-du-representant-de-l-oms-pour-la-declaration-de-fin-d-epidemie-de-maladie-a-virus-ebola-au-mali.

FIGURE. Number of days since last confirmed case of Ebola virus disease and number of confirmed cases in the past 21 days — Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, January 5–25, 2015*

Sources: Guinea Ministry of Health; Liberia Ministry of Health and Social Welfare; Sierra Leone Ministry of Health and Sanitation; World Health Organization.

* Data as of January 25, 2015.

Alternate Text: The figure above is a map showing the number of days since the last confirmed case of Ebola virus disease and the number of confirmed cases in the past 21 days, by district/county/prefecture, in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone during January 5-25, 2015.

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