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On December 29, 2015 Guinea became the latest country to be declared free of new Ebola cases! This announcement is an exciting milestone in beating the Ebola epidemic that began in March 2014. 

When Heather Cousins, a community health nurse from Woodstock, N.B., was recently on assignment with the Canadian Red Cross at an Ebola treatment centre in Sierra Leone, she and her co-workers let off steam by dancing and singing songs that pleaded for Ebola  to “go away”.  Today, their wish seems closer to being realized, as Sierra Leone has marked its first week of no new Ebola cases nationwide since the outbreak began nearly 15 months ago.

After almost two weeks away from her family, Kadiatu’s Ebola tests came back negative and she was allowed to return home where she was reunited with her family; everyone that is, except for her father, whose fate is still unknown. Like many families in Sierra Leone, the loss of the family breadwinner is having a profound impact on the family. Kadiatu recalls her experience and her hopes for the future.

The Canadian Red Cross is part of a delegation visiting Ebola-affected areas of West Africa this week, accompanying Dr. Greg Taylor, Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer, in visits to various treatment centres and in affected communities. Canadian Red Cross President and CEO, Conrad Sauvé, and Stephen Cornish, executive director of MSF (Médecins Sans Frontières), were part of the delegation.

This is the story of Ebola survivor Fatmata Amara, approximately 60 years old, as told to Anna MacSwan, British Red Cross.

When we first found out that Ebola had come to Komende Luyama, I felt bad because it was my daughter who had been the initial patient.

What’s it like to be on the front lines of the fight against Ebola? Canadian nurse Jodi Dockman filmed some of the day-to-day activities at a Red Cross Ebola treatment centre in Sierra Leone during her recent deployment. She takes us on a behind-the-scenes tour.

Without a doubt, stepping over the threshold to leave an Ebola treatment centre for the last time gives a patient a certain degree of euphoria; against many odds they have survived this highly contagious and deadly disease. However, the grim reality of day-to-day survival looms ahead as many have lost the breadwinner of the family, or their entire family, and their possessions have been destroyed, burned or disinfected with chlorine solution to avoid the further spread of the disease.

​Thanks to the generous support of Canadians and the government of Canada, the Red Cross has been making an impact in the fight against the Ebola outbreak. From preparedness and awareness activities to treating people with Ebola at Red Cross-run treatment centres, the response has been tremendous -- and is not yet over.