A woman who died of Ebola this week in Sierra Leone potentially exposed at least 27 other people to the disease, raising the possibility of further transmission as a regional epidemic appeared almost over, according to an aid agency report.
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Spokesperson for the Office of National Security Francis Langoba Kellie said the young women had been to the Northern Tonkolili District for medical attention.
“The Ministry of Health and Sanitation has dispatched a team supported by worldwide partners to investigate the suspected death and its circumstances”, it said in a note sent to health officials seen by Reuters.
World Health Organization spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said: “This really reflects what we have been saying yesterday … that there is a risk, and this outbreak is in a critical phase right now where we are moving from case management to management of risk”.
Evidence shows the virus can remain in the semen of male survivors for as long as a year.
The deadly outbreak, which has lasted two years, has claimed more than 11,300 lives, the vast majority in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, and badly damaged the region’s economies and healthcare infrastructures.
The sheer size of the West African outbreak – the largest in history – is challenging conventional wisdom about Ebola outbreaks, which in the past were relatively small. Sierra Leone was declared Ebola-free in November.
However, the World Health Organization warned that the “job is not over”, stating that flare-ups are expected to occur.
Sierra Leone was still in a 90-day period of enhanced surveillance after it was declared to be Ebola-free.
Thursday’s announcement said for the first time since the outbreak in December 2014, all three countries were at zero.
“WHO stresses ongoing risk of re-emergence of #Ebola in West Africa throughout 2016 due to persistence of the virus among survivors”.
However, certain health experts say that it is too soon for the region to be declared Ebola-free completely as there have been various resurgences cases of the virus.
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A country is declared to be free of human-to-human transmission once two 21-day incubation periods pass since the last known Ebola case has tested negative for Ebola twice.
