Liberia is Ebola-free and epidemic has ended

The best protection against outbreaks is to continue strong surveillance and maintain response systems.

The tests reinforce concerns about flare-ups of the virus that has killed more than 11,300 people since 2013, nearly all of which were in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia. Health officials typically wait 42 days to declare a country Ebola-free, because this is twice as long as the 21-day incubation period of the virus (the time it takes for a person infected with the virus to show symptoms).

“The WHO commends the government, people, communities, health workers and partners on the successful response to this latest outbreak of Ebola”.

“The rapid cessation of the flare-up is a concrete demonstration of Liberia’s strengthened national capacity to manage Ebola outbreaks”, Gasasira said.

This date marks the first time since the start of the epidemic 2 years ago that all 3 of the hardest-hit countries-Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone-have reported 0 cases for at least 42 days.

Liberia was the last country previously to be declared Ebola-free.

On Wednesday, an independent commission of 17 experts in public health, research and finance called for greater global investment in preventing future epidemics.

She urged that Vigilance needs to be maintained to curtail further outbreak.

Rick Brennan, Director of WHO Emergency Risk Management and Humanitarian Response said good leadership, community engagement, collaborative efforts from many countries as well as people in Western Africa contribute to the end of the unprecedented Ebola outbreak over last four decades.

“The risk of reintroduction of infection is diminishing as the virus gradually clears from the survivor population, but we still anticipate more flare-ups and must be prepared for them”, he said. “That’s because there is still ongoing risk of re-emergence of the disease because of persistence of the virus in a proportion of survivors”.

“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. He said World Health Organization estimates that there are about 1,200 survivors in Guinea, 5,000 in Sierra Leone and 4,000 in Liberia. “It has not only taken thousands of lives, it has devastated economies, health systems, social structures and families-reversing many years of development gains”, Jim Kim, head of the World Bank, said in a news release.