Objective: To describe community deaths positive for the Ebola virus that occurred in the city of Conakry from March 1 to August 31, 2015.
Methodology: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted from 1 March to 31 August 2015, covering all positive community Ebola deaths in the city of Conakry that were recorded in the database of the National Ebola Control Coordination.
Results: During the study period, out of a total of 6589 community deaths recorded in Conakry city by National Ebola Control Coordination, the proportion of Ebola positive death was 0.41%. The average age was 38.77 years (extremes were 1 and 78 years). All age groups were affected, but the most affected was 31 to 40 years of age (29.6%). The sex ratio was 0.58. The municipality of Matoto recorded the highest rate of community Ebola virus positive deaths for during this period, 48% (13/27). The type of epidemiological link was mainly that related to health workers 303 (36.5%).
Conclusion: Community deaths that were positive for the Ebola virus were a real route of contamination of the virus and were at the origin of the emergence of new transmission chains during this epidemic. Thus, the management of community deaths during an Ebola outbreak is a major public health problem for which urgent measures need to be taken. Improving the control of an Ebola epidemic in Guinea would require collaboration between communities and the epidemiological surveillance department.
Keywords: Ebola, Community deaths, Conakry