Sierra Leone records new case of Ebola virus

The tests reinforce concerns about flare-ups of the virus that has killed more than 11,300 people since 2013 in the world’s deadliest outbreak of Ebola.

A aid agency report says a woman who died of Ebola in Sierra Leone this week has potentially exposed at least twenty-seven other people to the virus.

Francis Langoba Kellie, a spokesman for Sierra Leone’s Office of National Security, said on the radio that the woman had come from the country’s Northern Kambia District and had gone to the Northern Tonkolili District for medical care. Authorities are tracing her contacts and have dispatched teams to the area for investigations.

In May, two new Ebola cases showed up in neighbouring country Libera after it was declared free of the virus.

This story was first published on CNN.com, “Ebola resurfaces in Sierra Leone hours after World Health Organization declares outbreak over”.

Additionally, the World Health Organization has found evidence suggesting that, although the virus disappears from the body of a person who has been cured, it’s a different thing for male survivors: the virus can remain in their semen for as long as a year and might even be transmitted to intimate partners.

The death occurred earlier this week.

Sierra Leone was still in a 90-day period of enhanced surveillance after it was declared to be Ebola-free.

Reaction to Thursday’s announcement was muted in the capital Monrovia, where locals have become accustomed to good news on Ebola being followed by setbacks, and there was no official programme of celebration.

The Ebola outbreak, which took 11,000 lives across West Africa and infected almost 30,000, had been given the all-clear after Liberia was pronounced virus-free yesterday. The chance of the virus resurfacing is gradually decreasing as it clears from the survivor population. The country had been free of the disease since 7 November. A country is regarded as Ebola-free when two 21-day incubation periods have passed since the last known case received a negative second test. During this time, government and health officials will ensure no hidden chains of transmission are missed and that any new flare-ups are detected.