Ebola outbreak: Sierra Leone to be declared disease-free

People in Sierra Leone are celebrating ahead of expected official confirmation that the country is free of Ebola.

The outbreak killed almost 4,000 people in Sierra Leone over the past 18 months.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is expected to confirm the news later.

Thousands of people took to the streets of the capital, Freetown, at the stroke of midnight - marking 42 days without a single declared case of the disease.

Ebola deaths

Figures up to 1 November 2015

11,314

Deaths - probable, confirmed and suspected

(Includes one in the US and six in Mali)

• 4,808 Liberia
• 3,955 Sierra Leone
• 2,536 Guinea
• 8 Nigeria

Source: WHO

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Many gathered around a giant cotton tree in the centre of the city, where some lit candles in memory of the victims, and others danced with joy.

A country is considered free of human-to-human transmission once two 21-day incubation periods have passed since the last known case tested negative for a second time.

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At the scene: Tulip Mazumdar, BBC News, Sierra Leone

This is the moment Sierra Leone has been waiting for. Thousands of people took to the streets of the capital on the run-up to midnight.

Women's groups came together to organise a march through the city centre; the final point was a 600-year-old cotton tree which sits on a huge roundabout. Usually, the area is jammed with cars, but last night it was packed with people. Some held up candles, others jumped around dancing and a military band led the procession through the city.

There were waves of celebrations, and then silence as names of some of the dead were beamed on to a screen. Health workers in particular were honoured for their bravery and sacrifice, they were some of the first to die when Ebola struck. Today is an enormous milestone for Sierra Leoneans, and people are overjoyed. But this historic moment, is bittersweet.

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Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma is due to address crowds in the city later,

On Friday, he blamed the WHO for delaying Sierra Leone declaring a state of emergency and restricting movement during the Ebola outbreak.

He said his government did at the time what it could do and did not have the knowledge to fight the disease.

He said his government had to put up with the delays because international organisations such as the WHO "were the experts".

Neighbouring Liberia was declared Ebola-free in September following 4,800 deaths there.

A handful of cases are still being reported in neighbouring Guinea, and Sierra Leone has said it will take heightened security and health screening measures at their shared border.