Three-week-old Nubia, Guinea’s last known Ebola patient, has tested negative for the deadly virus.
“Her mother was infected and died on 27 October in Conakry,” says Laurence Sailly, emergency coordinator for Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Guinea.
“Nubia has responded well to the treatment she received at the MSF Ebola management centre.
"We are pleased that she has tested negative, but as she is the first infected baby to have recovered, she will continue to receive specialised medical support before going back home."
42-day countdown
The country has begun a 42-day countdown after which the epidemic will be declared officially over, provided that no new cases are reported between now and then.
The government and the communities have worked hard with us to arrive at this result. We must still remain vigilant for any potential new cases so that our achievements will not be destroyed.
Nubia's family is from Guinea's Forecariah prefecture, near the border with Sierra Leone, the last Ebola-affected area in the country.
"She is a warrior"
"I felt such emotion when I saw her. Last time we visited her she looked so different. Now she looks so healthy.” Nubia’s uncle, Adama said.
“I'm going to go and tell the rest of the family right now. We didn't think she could survive. But she is in good hands. And she is a warrior."
The current Ebola epidemic is the worst ever outbreak of the viral haemorrhagic fever, which first surfaced in 1976 in what is now Democratic Republic of Congo.
According to the latest figures from the World Health Organization (WHO), the epidemic has left 11,300 dead, mainly in the west African states of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, out of almost 29,000 cases in total.
