Guinea has officially declared that it is dealing with an Ebola epidemic after the deaths of at least three people from the virus.
They – and four others – fell ill with diarrhoea, vomiting and bleeding after attending the burial of a nurse.
Newlydeveloped vaccines will be acquired through the World Health Organization (WHO), officials said.
Between2013 and 2016 more than 11,000 people died in the West Africa Ebola epidemic, which began in Guinea.
In response to that epidemic, which mainly affected Guinea and its neighbours Liberia and Sierra Leone, several vaccines were trialled, which have since been successfully used to fight outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Ebola jumps to humans from infected animals, such as chimpanzees, fruit bats and forest antelope. Bushmeat – non-domesticated forest animals hunted for human consumption – is thought to be the natural reservoir of the Ebola virus.It then spreads between humans by direct contact with infected blood, bodily fluids or organs, or indirectly through contact with contaminated environments. (BBC)