Sierra Leone officially declared 'Ebola free'

In a cathartic display, citizens of the West African country of Sierra Leone celebrated in the streets, as the dark days of Ebola officially receded into history.  

After more than 18 months, and at least 4,000 deaths at the hands of the deadly disease, the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the country “Ebola free”.

The WHO confirmed that 42 days have passed without any new cases of Ebola being reported, thereby satisfying regulations that the virus was no longer being transmitted.

In the streets of the capital city of Freetown, the news prompted an outpouring of emotion for a country that has been crippled and isolated by the outbreak of disease.

Block Jones, a popular Sierra Leonean rapper sings: “Ebola passed by the nation, it caused from frustration,” in a music video released to coincide with the country being declared Ebola-free.

Officials have said the country will now enter a 90-day period of surveillance to ensure the virus does not return. The country of Guinea, which borders Sierra Leone to its north and east, is the last West African country to have its ‘outbreak’ status removed.  

Amara Bangura, a journalist from Sierra Leone, who previously lived in Canada for a year as the Gordon N. Fisher/JHR Fellow, said he is approaching this news with a sense of tepid optimism.

“We are extremely happy that our country has been declared Ebola-free,” he says in an interview with Yahoo Canada News.

“[However], from the troubling number of deaths, to a battered economy, and a collapsed education system, there is still much to be worried about in [our] country post-Ebola.”

Indeed, that’s a concern that is echoed by many non-governmental organizations and charities that have been working to strengthen the country’s infrastructure since the end of the country’s debilitating 11-year civil war, which ended in 2002.

According to the Welbodi Partnership, a registered charity, Sierra Leone ranks a dubious number one in the children mortality rate index with almost one in five children dying before they reach the age of five.

Moreover, a poor and understaffed health care system results in children and mothers dying from complications during childbirth or other preventable diseases.

More broadly, Bangura says he hopes that this declaration will change the perception of the country, and its citizens, in the eyes of the international community.

“I hope Sierra Leoneans will be treated as humans and not viruses,” says Bangura, who says he was initially refused a visa by the federal government to enter Canada because he had been in his home country during the outbreak.

“Ebola has damaged our country enough without the [cost] of discrimination being applied by others,” he says.