The Ebola epidemic could flare up again in West Africa and health authorities are no better equipped to control it than they were a year ago, said Joanne Liu, head of medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres.
“The reality today is if Ebola were to hit on scale it did in August and September, we would hardly do much better than we did the last time around,” Joanne Liu said on the sidelines of a meeting on Ebola in Dakar, News24 reported.
While the virus is spreading more slowly than at the peak last year and Liberia has defeated the outbreak, cases have risen sharply in the past two weeks in Guinea and Sierra Leone, she added.
In Guinea, the outbreak has spread into districts previously free of the disease in recent weeks, including the border area with Guinea Bissau. “A month ago I thought we would see the end shortly but I am much less optimistic now,” she added.
