Ebola downgraded from public health emergency status

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa is no longer being considered a global emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO).

A meeting has been held by the WHO's emergency committee, during which it highlighted the work being done in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to prevent the reemergence of the epidemic, which first broke out in late 2013.

Since the committee's last meeting, all three countries have met the criteria for confirming interruption of their original chains of Ebola virus transmission, completing a 42-day observation period and an additional 90-day enhanced surveillance period since the last case linked to the original chain of transmission.

As such, the situation no longer constitutes a public health emergency of international concern, meaning the temporary recommendations adopted in response can now be terminated.

WHO director general Dr Margaret Chan said: "A high level of vigilance and response capacity must be maintained to ensure the ability of the countries to prevent Ebola infections and to rapidly detect and respond to flare-ups in the future."

The outbreak was the largest in recorded history, leading to a total of 11,320 confirmed deaths.