Ebola: 1 death recorded in Sierra Leone

He said the rapid end of the flare-up is a concrete demonstration of Liberia’s strengthened capacity to manage Ebola outbreaks. A Sierra Leone patient has tested positive for the virus after he died. Gasasira further thanked the Liberian Government for developing a national policy to ensure that the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) survivors have access to medical and psychosocial care. “This will assist EVD survivors to reintegrate into family and community life, reduce stigma and minimize the risk of Ebola virus transmission”.

THE World Health Organisation hailed an end to the west African Ebola epidemic yesterday as Liberia was declared free of the disease. Virologists discovered a year ago that the virus can also linger in the spinal fluid, after the Scottish nurse Pauline Cafferkey developed meningitis caused by the virus nine months after she had received the all clear.

The virus claimed more than 11,300 lives over two years.

Although the West Africa region was declared free of Ebola, the World Health Organization warned the public of the possibility of small outbreaks and flare-ups of the virus.

At its peak, it devastated Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, with bodies piling up in the streets and overwhelmed hospitals recording hundreds of new cases a week.

Those nations have been declared Ebola free since no one has tested positive for the virus in the last 42 days, or two incubation cycles.

“A high-level team of ministry of health officials and key partners including the World Health Organization and the Atlanta-based Centre for Disease Control are in the area from the capital to undertake intensive investigations”, Sierra Leone government spokesman Abdulai Bayrayta told AFP following the suspected new case.