Guinea Says Has No Ebola Cases After Last Patient Recovers

CONAKRY: Guinea's last known Ebola patient, a 19-day-old baby boy, has recovered and been released from a treatment centre in the capital Conakry, a health official said on Monday.

The baby's release means that Guinea, the last country still battling the virus, can begin its 42-day countdown to ending the outbreak. In a major breakthrough, neighbouring Sierra Leone was declared Ebola-free on November 7.

"The last confirmed case of Ebola has been released from a treatment centre," said Fode Tass Sylla, spokesman for Guinea's Ebola coordination unit. "We did two tests after his treatment and they came back negative."

The baby was born in the Nongo Ebola treatment centre to an infected mother who did not survive.

Sixty-eight people who had been in contact with the country's last cluster of patients and were deemed at risk of developing the haemorrhagic fever were released from quarantine on Saturday.

The worst known Ebola epidemic in history began in Guinea's forest region nearly two years ago and has since killed around 11,300 people, predominantly in West Africa.