Highlights

• The WHO reports a total of 21,797 cases (suspected, probable, and confirmed) and 8,675 deaths in the three currently affected countries in West Africa (Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone).

• Over the past two weeks, a decline in the epidemic—linked to a decrease in the number of new reported cases—has been observed in all three countries. Sierra Leone remains the most affected country, although the number of new cases per week has been falling sharply for the past four weeks. Transmission is still active in the three capitals: Conakry, Freetown, and Monrovia.

• On January 20, 2015, the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee declared that the Ebola virus outbreak affecting three West African countries (Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone) continues to constitute a public health emergency of international concern for the next three months.

• From January 17 to February 8, 2015, the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) is taking place in Equatorial Guinea. The Confederation of African Football has expressed “great confidence” in the anti-Ebola measures put in place by the country, which is hosting CAN 2015. According to the organizing committee, Equatorial Guinean authorities have invested in significant equipment and implemented various measures to address the Ebola threat (an anti-Ebola commission has been established, expert doctors are on hand, and sports teams are being screened upon departure and arrival in Malabo).

• As a reminder, the WHO declared the end of the Ebola epidemic in Mali on January 18.