Ebola case confirmed in Sierre Leone day after outbreak declared over

World Health Organization chose to declare West Africa as Ebola free after the three countries Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, that were majorly affected by Ebola outbreak in West Africa were confirmed as free of Ebola disease.

More cases of the deadly virus were reported in Sierra Leone than any other country during the deadliest Ebola outbreak in history.

Certain areas will be quarantined, Francis Langoba Kellie, spokesman for the Office of National Security, said. Goals are to assess how the Sierra Leone woman contracted her infection and to trace her contacts. Liberia had on two prior occasions declared itself free of Ebola, in May and in the month of September of the year 2015, however, fresh cases of the virus had appeared soon after the declaration. Kelly said the country’s level of preparedness is high and there is no cause for concern, according to the news agency. This was because survivors can carry the virus for months and pass it on.

Ebola is spread through direct contact with the bodily fluids of people who are sick or bodies of the dead. This is said to be especially true of the presence of the virus in men, in the semen of whose bodies the virus can remain for long periods of time.

The Sierra Leone death occurred earlier this week.

The WHO, who confirmed the case, stated that flare-ups were expected in West Africa where the outbreak lasted two years and took more than 11,300 lives.

“We can confirm the Ebola case in Sierra Leone”, the World Health Organization said in a statement from Geneva.

Yesterday was the first time that Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea-the three countries hardest hit by the virus outbreak that began two years ago-had gone 42 days without any new Ebola cases.

Before the Ebola epidemic – which is believed to have started in rural Guinea in December 2013 – most of what was known about the disease was limited to studies of much smaller outbreaks in Congo and Uganda. During this time, government and health officials will ensure no hidden chains of transmission are missed and that any new flare-ups are detected.

The report stated that five people who were not part of Jalloh’s parents’ household were involved in washing her corpse, a practice that is considered one of the chief modes of Ebola transmission.