WHO just made a historic declaration about the status of Ebola in Guinea.

Guinea is officially Ebola-free.

 Robbie Couch
12.29.15

Meet Noubia, the adorable little cutie in the photo below.

Photo by Cellou Binani/AFP/Getty Images.

She was just 34 days old when this picture was snapped back in November 2015, so she probably won't be able to recall all the hoopla over this photo when she grows up. But the picture, nonetheless, will go down in history.

Why? The photo captures the exact moment when Noubia, the last known patient to contract Ebola in Guinea, was released from care after being treated for the deadly disease.

Noubia's prognosis last month means her home country has officially turned a very big corner in the fight against Ebola.

Guinea was declared Ebola-free by the World Health Organization on Dec. 29, 2015.

Two 21-day incubation periods have passed since the last known patient — in Guinea's case, Noubia — has tested negative for Ebola a second time, according to the World Health Organization.

This is a big deal — not just for Guinea, but for all of West Africa. It's the first time the three hardest hit countries — Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone — "have stopped the original chains of transmission that were responsible for starting this devastating outbreak two years ago,” Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, said in a statement.

Photo by Cellou Binani/AFP/Getty Images.

Guineans are preparing to celebrate the declaration and ring in 2016 with fireworks and concerts, BBC News reported.

"It's the best year-end present that God could give to Guinea, and the best news that Guineans could hope for," Alama Kambou Dore, an Ebola survivor, told AFP News agency.

The celebrations come after two years of immeasurable heartache in Guinea.

The virus has ravaged West Africa since the chain of infections began in December 2013, causing about 11,300 deaths worldwide.

More than 2,500 of them have been in Guinea.

An Ebola patient sits at a treatment center in Guinea in 2014. Photo by Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP/Getty Images.

While the WHO's declaration of an Ebola-free Guinea is more than welcome, it certainly doesn't mean the country can let down its guard just yet. In fact, Guinea now enters a three-month period of heightened surveillance to make sure any new cases are quickly identified and treated immediately before spreading to other patients.

"The coming months will be absolutely critical," said Dr. Bruce Aylward of WHO's Ebola response team. "This is the period when the countries need to be sure that they are fully prepared to prevent, detect and respond to any new cases."

Liberia, for instance, was declared Ebola-free back in September, but has had two cases crop up since then.

But for now, Guineans have every reason to celebrate.

The coming year will bring a "full health sector recovery agenda" to Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, the WHO reports, noting that they'll focus mostly on vital public programs, like maternal and child health, and on pinpointing any Ebola flare-ups down the road.

You are just the cutest, Noubia. Photo by Cellou Binani/AFP/Getty Images.

Dr. Rick Brennan, a member of WHO's Ebola response team, told The New York Times that the declaration serves as a great moment to build on the significant progress that's been made.

“It’s important to take a pause and be thankful for where we’ve arrived at and get to work rebuilding that health system and making it more resilient for the future."

liberia sierra leone who ebola guinea world health organization
Heroes

Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg are making a serious push to expunge people's pot convictions

National Expungement Week is Spetember 21 to 28.

Courtesy of Houseplant.

In America, one dumb mistake can hang over your head forever.

Nearly 30% of the American adult population — about 70 million people — have at least one criminal conviction that can prevent them from being treated equally when it comes to everything from job and housing opportunities to child custody.

Twenty million of these Americans have felony convictions that can destroy their chances of making a comfortable living and prevents them from voting out the lawmakers who imprisoned them.

Many of these convictions are drug-related and stem from the War on Drugs that began in the U.S. '80s. This war has unfairly targeted the minority community, especially African-Americans.

Keep Reading Show less
marijuana expungement national expumgement week stoner comedies Seth Rogen Evan Goldberg High Times seth rogen even golldberg national expungement week
Culture

Breaking down the conspiracy theory mindset at the heart of climate change denial

Becker1999/Flickr

Climate change is happening because the earth is warming at an accelerated rate, a significant portion of that acceleration is due to human activity, and not taking measures to mitigate it will have disastrous consequences for life as we know it.

In other words: Earth is heating up, it's kinda our fault, and if we don't fix it, we're screwed.

This is the consensus of the vast majority of the world's scientists who study such things for a living. Case closed. End of story.

How do we know this to be true? Because pretty much every reputable scientific organization on the planet has examined and endorsed these conclusions. Thousands of climate studies have been done, and multiple peer-reviewed studies have been done on those studies, showing that somewhere between 84 and 97 percent of active climate science experts support these conclusions. In fact, the majority of those studies put the consensus well above 90%.

Keep Reading Show less
conspiracy theories climate change
Nature

After going viral for helping a 91-year-old, this humble plumber now exclusively serves the elderly and disabled

via James Anderson

Two years ago, a tweet featuring the invoice for a fixed boiler went viral because the customer, a 91-year-old woman with leukemia, received the services for free.

"No charge for this lady under any circumstances," the invoice read. "We will be available 24 hours to help her and keep her as comfortable as possible."

The repair was done by James Anderson, 52, a father-of-five from Burnley, England. "James is an absolute star, it was overwhelming to see that it cost nothing," the woman's daughter told CNN.

Keep Reading Show less
Heroes

A mother's viral plea for kids with life-or-death food allergies is one we all need to hear

HR Mom/Facebook

I live in a family with various food intolerances. Thankfully, none of them are super serious, but we are familiar with the challenges of finding alternatives to certain foods, constantly checking labels, and asking restaurants about their ingredients.

In our family, if someone accidentally eats something they shouldn't, it's mainly a bit of inconvenient discomfort. For those with truly life-threatening food allergies, the stakes are much higher.

I can't imagine the ongoing stress of deadly allergy, especially for parents trying to keep their little ones safe.

Keep Reading Show less
popular