The three reports posted here use virus genomic sequencing to determine the nature of the Ebola virus outbreak in Guinea in early 2021. The findings, arrived at independently by multiple partners and collaborators concur in linking the outbreak to human Ebola virus infections from the 2013-2016 epidemic in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. This excludes the possibility that this outbreak is the result of the re-emergence of Ebola virus from a non-human animal reservoir.
Ebola survivors are known to face stigmatization and discrimination. The evidence that the current outbreak is a resurgence after long-term persistence has the risk of exacerbating this. The potentially exceptional nature of the findings therefore requires nuanced communication. A thorough risk assessment will be needed to put the current observations into perspective.