Guinea has declared an Ebola epidemic after three people died and four others became ill in the country’s southeast.

The seven people fell ill with diarrhoea, vomiting and bleeding after attending a burial in Goueke, near the Liberian border. The infected patients have been isolated in treatment centres, the health ministry said on Sunday.

A second round of tests is being carried out to confirm the latest Ebola diagnosis and health workers are working to trace and isolate the contacts of the cases, state health agency ANSS said.

The cases announced by the health ministry on Sunday are the first since the deadly Ebola epidemic ravaged the country, alongside Liberia and Sierra Leone, five years ago.

In comparison with COVID-19, World Health Organisation (WHO) reports (which the agency believes are substantially understated) say the Ebola epidemic comprised more than 28,000 suspected cases, with over 11,300 deaths driving its dramatic mortality rate.

The announcement comes a week after eastern Congo confirmed it also had cases, although these are not linked.