Sierra Leone releases its last known Ebola patient

On Monday morning, Adama Sankoh walked out of the global Medical Corps treatment center in Makeni and onto a red carpet.

The release comes 15 months after the original outbreak was reported in Sierra Leone.

Sierra Leone was one of the three West African countries hardest hit by Ebola, accounting for half of the about 27,900 people who were infected by the virus and almost a third of the 11,284 killed in the biggest Ebola outbreak on record, according to the World Health Organisation. Liberia was declared Ebola-free in May, only to experience a brief resurgence in cases.

Health authorities in Sierra Leone have released the country’s last known Ebola patient from the hospital.

Director of Communications at the National Ebola Response Centre (NERC), Sidi Yaya Tunis says the woman who was the mother of the trader that left Freetown and went to Massessebe has responded well to treatment and has undergone two negative tests already.

He reminded that “we must all adhere to the standard operating procedures prescribed by WHO”.

Tunis said they have succeeded in getting to zero and they hope there will not be any more cases.

“Before we get to 42 days, we must stay the course and remain vigilant”, he said, asking the nation to remember the 3,586 people who are known to have died of the virus in Sierra Leone.

” Whilst we should as well not forget the over 3000 victims, the government and its partners should help them [survivors] reintegrate to their communities”.

Guinea, where the epidemic began at the end of 2013, is still grappling with a small number of cases.

“Although my child died of Ebola, I am very happy that I have survived”, Ms Sankoh told the waiting crowd, according to the AP.

Closer than ever to being declared Ebola-free, the affected countries are taking grim stock of the devastation wrought on their economies as key mining and agricultural activities ground to a halt.

In this photo taken Thursday, August 13, 2015, a billboard advises people how to keep free of Ebola, in a shanty town on the outskirts of Freetown, Sierra Leone, as people in the nearby village of Massessehbeh are finally releas…

Regional director for the worldwide Medical Corps West Africa Ebola response, Sean Casey said, ” Today is without doubt a day for celebration and reflection on the thousands of lives lost during this devastating crisis”.