ADDIS ABABA
Officials from the African Union (AU) Commission and the United Nations on Thursday expressed cautious optimism regarding the ongoing fight against Ebola.
During a UN-AU Commission stakeholders' meeting on Ebola, officials said the virus was receding.
The meeting was held at the UN's Addis Ababa office one day before an AU summit is held in the Ethiopian capital.
AU Commission Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said the meeting was aimed at assessing the next steps to be taken in the fight against Ebola.
"We still have significant work to do to ensure that all countries in West Africa are Ebola-free in the shortest time possible," Dlamini-Zuma said.
"The greater task will be to focus on the reconstruction of general health systems and bringing normalcy to affected countries," she added.
In recent months, Ebola – a contagious disease for which there is no known treatment or cure – has killed 8,641 people, mostly in West Africa, according to a Jan. 21 World Health Organization report.
In Liberia alone, the deadly virus has claimed a total of 3,605 lives.
Dlamini-Zuma said the fact that Ebola was receding should not result in complacency.
She called on partners and stakeholders to coordinate efforts and stay vigilant until the region could be declared Ebola-free.
Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, special representative of the UN secretary-general and head of the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER), said there were 7,000 Ebola cases in October.
"We [now] begin to see an overall decline in the number of new cases," Ahmed said, while noting that the situation still remained precarious.
"Poor roads and the lack of clean water will remain a challenge," Ahmed, who assumed the top post at UNMEER three weeks ago, said.
Mutation
David Nabarro, the UN's system coordinator for Ebola, said that at the moment there was no evidence that Ebola virus mutation detected by the Institute Pasteur in France made the virus more dangerous
"What we need to do now is continue studying these mutations and see whether any evidence appears," Nabarro told The Anadolu Agency.
"But until now, I have not heard of increased danger associated with these newly reported mutations," he added.
Nabarro warned that Ebola had yet to be completely eliminated.
"There are still infections in one third of the districts in the region," he said. "We are still seeing surprises with new cases we have not expected."
