During the 9^th meeting of the Emergency Committee convened by the World Health Organization (WHO) regarding the Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in West Africa held on March 29, 2016, the Committee noted that Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia have met the criteria for confirming interruption of their original chains of Ebola virus transmission. Although new clusters of Ebola cases continue to occur as expected, the Committee deemed that the risk of international spread is now low. Therefore, the Committee declared that the Ebola situation in West Africa no longer constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). In view of the above, the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC) determined the risk of Taiwanese travelers contracting the disease in the three countries is now low and thus removed the travel alert for Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia on the same day.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

The West African Ebola outbreak that began in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone in March 2014 is the worst outbreak of the virus in history and has affected many countries. 　 On August 8, 2014, WHO declared the Ebola outbreak in West Africa constitutes a PHEIC. Over a period of almost two years, as of March 23, 2016, a total of 10 countries have been affected by the outbreak and a cumulative total of close to 29,000, including over 1,100 deaths, have been reported.

Taiwan CDC stresses that even though WHO has announced the West African Ebola outbreak is no longer a public health emergency, travelers visiting the aforementioned countries should still remain vigilant for the virus and avoid contacts with animals and patients to lower their risk of infection as sporadic cases continue to be reported in those countries. 　In addition, Taiwan CDC will continue to closely monitor the ongoing outbreaks to ensure the health and wellbeing of the people in Taiwan. For more information, please visit the Taiwan CDC’s website at: www.cdc.gov.tw or call the toll-free Communicable Disease Reporting and Consultation Hotline, 1922 (or 0800-001922).