Guinea declared Ebola free by WHO

 Guinea was declared free of Ebola transmission on Tuesday after more than 2,500 people died from the virus in the West African nation, leaving Liberia as the only country still counting down the days until the end of the deadly epidemic.

The announcement comes 42 days after the last person confirmed with Ebola tested negative for a second time. The country now enters a 90-day period of heightened surveillance, the U.N. World Health Organization said.

The world's worst outbreak of the disease began in Gueckedou, eastern Guinea, in December 2013 before spreading to Liberia, Sierra Leone and seven other countries. In all, more than 11,300 people died.

"I commend the governments, communities and partners for their determination in confronting this epidemic," said WHO regional director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti.

"As we work towards building resilient health care systems, we need to stay vigilant to ensure that we rapidly stop any new flares that may come up in 2016," Moeti said.

People in the capital, Conakry, greeted the declaration with mixed emotions given the deaths and the damage the virus did to the economy and the country's health and education sectors.