10-year-old reintroduces Ebola to Liberia

Bernice Dahn, Liberian health minister, on Friday said a new case of Ebola has emerged in the country.

This is coming about two months after the World Health Organisation (WHO) certified Liberia free of the virus.

Dahn described the development as a setback to the struggle to end an epidemic that had killed around 11,300 people.

She explained that the patient is a 10-year-old boy who lived with his parents and three siblings in Paynesville, a suburb east of the capital Monrovia.

“All six family members, as well as other high-risk contacts, are in care at an Ebola Treatment Unit in Paynesville”, Dahn said.

She added that the hospital was currently decontaminating the unit, while all of the healthcare workers who came in contact with the patient had also been notified.

“We know how Ebola spreads and we know how to stop Ebola but we must remain vigilant and work together,” she said.

Liberia has seen more than 10,600 cases of the disease and 4,808 Ebola deaths since it was first announced in March 2014.

The virus has killed about 11,300 people in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, but Sierra Leone was declared free on November 7 and Guinea has begun its countdown to the end of the virus.