World Health Organization Declares End of Ebola Virus in Guinea

— -- The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Republic of Guinea Ebola-free today.

"Forty-two days have passed since the last person confirmed to have Ebola virus disease tested negative for the second time," WHO said in a statement. "Guinea now enters a 90-day period of heightened surveillance to ensure that any new cases are identified quickly before they can spread to other people.”

This would be the second such declaration from the country at the epicenter of the world's worst outbreak of the disease.

The WHO had previously announced Guinea was free of transmission in December, after 42 days had passed without a positive test.

In the most recent outbreak, seven confirmed and three possible cases of the virus surfaced between March 17 and April 6 in the West African country, according to the organization.

"The flare-up seems to have occurred after a person came into contact with infected body fluid from an Ebola survivor," that statement said. "Since the virus can remain active in certain body fluids for months, the WHO cautions the risk of outbreaks remain."

Officials believe Guinea to be ground zero of the outbreak. The original chain of transmission of the virus began in December 2013 and spanned across neighboring countries including Sierra Leone and Liberia, killing more than 11,000 people.

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