Meliandou is a village in
Guéckédou Prefecture
Guéckédou is a prefecture located in the Nzérékoré Region of Guinea. The capital is Guéckédou. The prefecture covers an area of 4,750 km.² and has a population of 290,611.
Sub-prefectures
The prefecture is divided administratively ...
, in the
Nzérékoré Region
The Nzérékoré Region ( nqo, ߒߛߙߍߜߍ߬ߘߍ߫ ߕߌ߲߬ߞߎߘߎ߲) is a region in the southern part of Guinea. Its capital and largest city is Nzérékoré. It is one of the eight regions of Guinea. It is bordered by the countries of Sierr ...
of southern
Guinea
Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...
. Medical researchers believe that the village was the location of the first known case of
Ebola virus disease
Ebola, also known as Ebola virus disease (EVD) and Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF), is a viral hemorrhagic fever in humans and other primates, caused by ebolaviruses. Symptoms typically start anywhere between two days and three weeks after becom ...
in the
epidemic in West Africa.
The
patient zero
The index case or patient zero is the first documented patient in a disease epidemic within a population, or the first documented patient included in an epidemiological study.
It can also refer to the first case of a condition or syndrome (not n ...
of Ebola was a two-year-old boy who died in 2013. The boy's pregnant mother, sister, and grandmother also became ill with symptoms consistent with Ebola infection and died. People infected by those victims later spread the disease to other villages.
Prior to the Ebola outbreak, the villagers sold their farm produce to the nearby town of
Guéckédou
Guéckédou or Guékédou is a town in southern Guinea near the Sierra Leone and Liberian borders. It had a population of 79,140 in 1996 (census) but has grown massively since the civil wars and, , it is estimated to be 221,715. It was a centre o ...
.
, they found themselves unable to sell their products anymore.
[
]
See also
* Ebola virus epidemic in Guinea
An epidemic of Ebola virus disease in Guinea from 2013 to 2016 represents the first ever outbreak of Ebola in a West African country. Previous outbreaks have been confined to several countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The epidemic, which began ...
References
External links
High-resolution map of Meliandou area
provided by European Union for ReliefWeb
Populated places in the Nzérékoré Region
2014 in Guinea
Health in Guinea
Index cases
{{guinea-geo-stub