The Ebola crisis in West Africa, where the first victim died almost a year ago, is likely to last until the end of 2015, according to a scientist who helped to discover the virus.

Two-year-old Emile Ouamouno died in the remote village of Meliandou in southern Guinea on Dec. 28 last year after suffering from a fever, headache and diarrhoea. His 3-year-old sister, mother and grandmother died days later.

These deaths went unnoticed and the disease smouldered undetected, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). It was not until March that health officials in Guinea started to realize something worrisome was happening.