“This really shows that the surveillance system is working”.
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Now authorities are trying to determine how many people the 17-year-old boy in Nidonwin had contact with during the week he was sick and potentially infectious with Ebola.
Mr. Nyenswah was optimistic that the case may be isolated.
But Nyenswah maintained that the infection could not have come from either of the two accused countries. The World Health Organization said it is deploying staff to join the Liberian government’s investigation. “We have said over and over again that there was a possibility that there could be a resurgence of the virus in Liberia”, said Nyenswah, while adding that “our surveillance team, our capacity is very strong”. The village where the boy was from was placed under quarantine and food was airlifted to the site. Meanwhile, FPA has also gathered that a suspected case from C.H.
Margibi County was among the worst impacted areas during the outbreak. A test is expected to be performed on that case and the result will likely be known on Tuesday.
There have been more than 11,000 deaths in West Africa. Fear and uncertainty about the future, for families, communities, and the country and its economy, dominated the national mood.
Liberian officials on Tuesday have quarantined a neighborhood near the capital city of Monrovia where the body was found; The Wall Street Journal reports.
Ebola lingers in the body for a long time, said Ben Neuman, a virologist at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom.
But an aggressive public-awareness campaign persuaded Liberians to embrace preventative measures that slowed Ebola’s spread, like washing their hands with chlorinated water and avoiding shaking hands. The spread of Ebola, which has a death rate of 50% or more, peaked between last August and October with 300-400 cases reported every week.
A health worker injects a woman with an Ebola vaccine during a trial in Monrovia, Liberia, in February. Nyensuah called on the population to remain calm and said the necessary steps were being taken to find and identify contacts of the dead man and isolate them.
Liberia’s neighbors haven’t succeeded in beating Ebola back as far. It borders Bong County, which is adjacent to Guinea where Ebola infections have persisted.
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The US and a number of global organizations urged caution, with a spokesperson from the White House warning the world not to forget that Guinea and Sierra Leone were still fighting The outbreak.
