A new Ebola case has been confirmed in Liberia, several months after the outbreak of the deadly virus was believed to be contained, Reuters reported. The victim, who died on Thursday, was a woman in her early 30s.
It’s the first confirmed case of the virus in Liberia since the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the country Ebola-free in mid-January. The country had been declared free of Ebola twice before, in May and September of 2015, only to have new cases crop up.
News of the latest death comes three days after WHO said the Ebola crisis was no longer a public health emergency of international concern, due to dropping rates of transmission.
Despite the easing of the crisis, clusters of the virus were reported in West Africa as late as mid-March. On March 22, Liberia closed its border with neighbouring Guinea after several Ebola cases were discovered there. Guinea, which was declared free of Ebola in late December before new cases were found, has vaccinated nearly 800 people against the virus over the past week, according to CNN.
More than 11,000 people, mostly from the West African countries of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, have died in the 2014 Ebola outbreak.
Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
5 Photos That Capture What Motherhood Looks Like Around The World