The woman, who was from the Northern Kambia District, went to the Northern Tonkolili District for medical treatment, he said, according to the AP. Goals are to assess how the Sierra Leone woman contracted her infection and to trace her contacts.
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The UN health agency, however, warned that Ebola flare-ups as a result of the virus persisting in the semen of male survivors for up to 12 months could pose a residual for more flare-ups as people return to a “new normal”.
However, today marks the 42nd day since the last person who has contracted the virus was cured and, because of this, the country was declared Ebola-free.
Sierra Leone’s “level of preparedness and response capabilities are very high, and there is no cause for concern”, Kellie said.
The country’s government rapidly responded to the new case and a team is investigating its origin and trying to stop the virus from spreading, the World Health Organization said in a statement. In the near term, the world must remain vigilant to stay at zero Ebola cases, especially with the threat of flare-ups of the disease, while helping the three hardest-hit countries recover and rebuild their economies and health systems.
“Detecting and breaking every chain of transmission has been a monumental achievement”, Dr. Margaret Chan, WHO Director-General, said. “We still anticipate more flare-ups and must be prepared for them”, Reuters reported.
One of the challenging aspects of controlling the Ebola virus is that the virus can survive for months – or even years – without the carrier showing any symptoms. For a country to be declared Ebola free, 42 days have to pass from the time of the negative Ebola test in the body of the last carrier of the virus.
The country was declared free of the virus on 7 November, and the region as a whole was cleared when Liberia was pronounced Ebola-free on Thursday.
More than 11,000 people died and 28,500 were infected during the Ebola epidemic in West Africa that began in December 2013.
The news comes just one day after the World Health Organization declared West Africa Ebola-free.
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“Three days later she died at home and her death was reported to the hospital officials and an initial swab test was taken which proved positive” on Thursday.
