International
Ahh! Liberia with Ebola again?
Just when everybody thought Liberia had overcome its Ebola Virus Disease problem, and was about to be declared Ebola free, the country on Friday confirmed a new case of the disease.
A patient tested positive for Ebola in Monrovia, the country’s capital, officials said, deflating hopes that the country had beaten the disease after weeks with no new cases.
More than 4,000 people have died in Liberia from the disease, the most in the West African Ebola outbreak, which has killed more than 10,000 people. But since it discharged its last case on March 5, it was counting down to being declared Ebola-free.
The World Heath Organization requires 42 days to elapse from the last known case before a country can be declared free of the virus.
Dr. Francis Kateh, the acting head of the country’s Ebola Incident Management Team, said a new patient has now tested positive. A second test is generally done to confirm the diagnosis.
Dr Kateh said he was concerned that it had not been possible to establish how the woman became infected, as health workers had run out of “contacts” to pursue.
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