 |
|
Deputy Health Minister Tolbert Nyenswah: "There
is no need to panic. The corpse has been buried and our contact tracing has
started work,"
|
A Liberian has died of Ebola in the first recorded case since
the country at the heart of an epidemic was declared free of the virus on May
9, Deputy Health Minister Tolbert Nyenswah said on Tuesday.
The body of a 17-year-old
tested positive for Ebola in Margibi County, the deputy minister said. Margibi
is a rural area close to the capital Monrovia, and is home to the country's
main international airport.
Reuters report continues:
"There is no need to panic. The corpse has been buried and our contact tracing has started work," Nyenswah said.
"There is no need to panic. The corpse has been buried and our contact tracing has started work," Nyenswah said.
The case represents a
setback for Liberia, which was declared Ebola free on May 9 after going 42 days
without a new case. Authorities will now have to trace and potentially isolate
every person the victim came into contact with while sick.
A total of 11,207 people
died from Ebola in Liberia, neighbouring Guinea and Sierra Leone since the
outbreak began in December 2013, according to a World Health Organization
(WHO) report on June 24.
Around 43 percent of
those deaths were in Liberia, where the outbreak peaked between last August and
October with hundreds of cases a week. Health workers say vigilance is needed
if the outbreak is to be eliminated.
A total of 12 new
confirmed cases were reported in Guinea and eight in Sierra Leone in the seven
days to 21 June, according to WHO figures.
No comments:
Post a Comment