Ebola Case Undermines Liberia Disease-Free Hopes
Liberia had hoped to be declared Ebola-free in April
Liberia has confirmed a new case of Ebola, undermining growing hopes in the country that it might soon be declared free of the disease.
There had not been a new case for 20 days until a woman tested positive on Friday in the capital, Monrovia.
The World Heath Organization requires 42 days to elapse from the last known case before a country can be declared free of the virus.
More than 4,000 people in Liberia have died from the disease.
Liberia thought it had discharged its final Ebola patient, Beatrice Yardolo, over two weeks ago
Liberia’s Acting Head of the Ebola Incident Management Team, Dr Francis Kateh, told the BBC that a woman who was taken into a treatment centre in Monrovia on Thursday had tested positive for the virus.
Dr Kateh said he was concerned that it had not been possible to establish how the woman became infected, as health workers had run out of “contacts” to pursue.