Ebola returns to Liberia 2 months after declared free

After a month of declaring the country free from Ebola, a new case of Ebola has been confirmed in Liberia on Friday.


The new case which came after it was reportedly wiped out in September, was confirmed by Deputy Health Minister Francis Ketteh.

He told state broadcaster LBS the case was discovered in the Duport Road area of capital Monrovia and the patient has been admitted to an Ebola treatment unit. Officials are tracing those the patient has come into recent contact with.

The World Health Organization (WHO) also confirmed the case. “There is one confirmed case,” WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said.

Thousands died at the height of the epidemic in the west African nation last year. Liberia was first declared free of Ebola in May but reemerged six weeks later and again in September.

The virus killed more than 4,800 in Liberia, according to the WHO. The agency reported more than 11,300 dead out of nearly 29,000 cases since the epidemic erupted in December 2013, mainly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Medecins Sans Frontieres recently announced the last known Ebola patient in Guinea had recovered. The country must have 42 days with no cases before being declared Ebola free. Sierra Leone was declared free of the virus earlier this month.