Shropshire doctor's relief at Guinea's Ebola all-clear

Dr Martin Deahl said he is "delighted" that the World Health Organisation has announced that the Ebola epidemic is now over in Guinea.

But the 58-year-old, who lives in Newport, said there was still work to be done to eradicate the disease across the world.

Dr Deahl spent last Christmas in Sierra Leone treating Ebola patients before flying back home in time to celebrate the new year with his family.

The country was declared Ebola-free by the WHO in November and Liberia is currently on a countdown to be called clear on January 14 – which could mark an end to the epidemic.

About 11,300 people died worldwide during the outbreak.

Dr Deahl, who by day works as a consultant psychiatrist for South Staffordshire and Shropshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, said: "There is no time for complacency. This disease will go back into the jungle where it came from, we think it comes from fruit bats. There will be a time where it comes back."

Dr Deahl spent six weeks in West Africa last winter and was one of 30 NHS medics deployed to Sierra Leone, which was torn apart by the deadly Ebola virus.

He trained for the work alongside 39-year-old Pauline Cafferkey – the Scottish nurse who has twice received hospital treatment for Ebola symptoms since her return to Britain – for 10 days when they first arrived in Sierra Leone.

He was also sat next to her on the plane back to Britain, but has never suffered any effects of the disease.

Dr Deahl said that the work done by volunteers in West Africa has left a lasting legacy which will help the countries rebuild.

He said: "The treatment centre I worked in is still being used to treat different illnesses like malaria.

"From what we have set up there will be a legacy. To put Ebola into perspective, for every one person who died from Ebola hundreds die from malaria.

"The healthcare system in Sierra Leone totally collapsed, so things we take for granted like children's vaccines came to a halt. It is going to take a long time to get the system back on its feet.

"I would like to go back in the future when the country is more settled because it is so beautiful.

"Along with the groups of NHS professionals we worked with a group of healthcare workers who had come from war-torn areas like Somalia and Syria, and they were great people to work with.

"One important point to make is the work of people who work for NGOs who give their lives to work in these places, once they leave Sierra Leone they will go to somewhere else, they are the real heroes."

No new cases of Ebola have been reported anywhere in the world for at least 21 days, according to the WHO.

"This is the first time that all three countries – Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone – have stopped the original chains of transmission that were responsible for starting this devastating outbreak two years ago," said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa. But experts warn that cases may still emerge.

"We definitely cannot let our guard down," said Dr Tom Frieden, director of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. "It's certainly possible we will have more cases and more clusters in the coming months."

On Tuesday, about 50 Ebola survivors, journalists, and people who lost loved ones gathered at WHO's Ebola headquarters in Conakry, where the mood was of celebration, mixed with sadness.

"Guinea is a blessed country. We hope that all the dead, and the victims of this disease will be sacrifices to the Guinean nation so that no other epidemic touches us," said survivor Ibrahima Sow.

Dr Mohamed Belhocine, WHO's representative in Guinea, said on Tuesday the nation entered a 90-day period of heightened surveillance.

Guinea had the fewest Ebola cases of the three countries, but its bigger size, extensive remote areas and a stigma and distrust of health workers allowed the outbreak to persist longer here.