Ebola outbreak, Guinea

The West African country of Guinea declared an outbreak of ebola on Feb. 15 after seven people were confirmed to have contracted the virus, three of whom died from the disease. All of the patients had attended the same funeral before becoming infected.

These were the first new cases of ebola in the country since 2016, when, during the worst outbreak of ebola on record, more than 11,000 people died, mostly in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. The currently infected patients were isolated to help stop the spread of the disease and prevent an epidemic.

The newest appearance of ebola is occurring while Guinea is also dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. At press time, Guinea had recorded more than 15,000 cases of COVID-19, which had caused at least 87 deaths.