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"The response to the EVD (Ebola virus disease) epidemic has now moved to a second phase, as the focus shifts from slowing transmission to ending the epidemic," the WHO said.
"To
achieve this goal as quickly as possible, efforts have moved from
rapidly building infrastructure to ensuring that capacity for case
finding, case management, safe burials, and community engagement is
used as effectively as possible."
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The outbreak has killed 8 810 people out of 22 092 cases, almost all of them in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.
Cases
and deaths have fallen rapidly in Liberia and Sierra Leone in the past
few weeks, with 20 deaths recorded in Liberia in the 21 days to January
25 - less than one a day.
But Guinea reported 30 confirmed cases
in the latest week, up from 20 in the previous week. The epidemic is
also still spreading geographically there, with a first confirmed case
in Guinea's Mali prefecture bordering Senegal, which reopened its
border with Guinea on Monday.
A resurgence of the virus in Guinea,
where the outbreak began, would threaten President Alpha Conde's goal
of eradicating Ebola from the country by early March.
Read: Ebola - From devastation to survival and solidarity
Disease experts say that tracking down everyone who has had close contact with an Ebola patient is crucial to ending the outbreak. But in dozens of remote villages in Guinea, angry residents are blocking access for health workers.
The most intense transmission in Guinea is in Forecariah district, close to the border with western Sierra Leone, the worst Ebola hotspot.
"There have recently been reports of high
levels of community resistance to EVD response measures in Forecariah,
indicating a need to better engage the community in the response," the
WHO said.
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