Health officials in Liberia reported on Tuesday, Nov. 24, that a teenage boy has died because of complications from Ebola, making him the first victim to succumb to the disease in months.
Francis Kateh, chief medical officer of Liberia, said that 15-year-old Nathan Gbotoe died on Monday, Nov. 23, only a few days after he tested positive for Ebola. His father and brother are being treated for the disease in the same Paynesville medical facility where he died.
Around 153 people who may have potentially come into contact with Gbotoe have also been placed under surveillance by the Liberian government.
Kateh said an additional 25 health workers are being observed for symptoms of Ebola, with 10 of them having been identified as high-risk for the disease.
Officials are now looking for the possible source of the Ebola virus and the national government has also sent a request to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to provide expert assistance in the investigation.
Gbotoe's death is the first case of Ebola-related fatality in Liberia after the country was declared twice to be free from the disease by the World Health Organization (WHO). Before this, the last Ebola death in the country was recorded in July.
There are now more than 11,300 individuals who have died of Ebola infection since the epidemic was first announced in West Africa in March 2014. Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia were the three nations that were hit the hardest by the disease.
Health officials in Sierra Leone have declared the country to be free of the Ebola epidemic on Nov. 7, while experts in Guinea have also begun their countdown to zero disease cases on Nov. 16.
According to the latest figures from the WHO, more than 4,800 individuals have lost their lives to the outbreak in Liberia alone.
In March, the United Nations Development Group (UNDG) reported that the Ebola epidemic has caused vast economic losses both for countries that were devastated by the disease and those that only had a few Ebola cases.
Experts believe the impact of the outbreak on the economies of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone will still be felt years after the disease is rooted from the region.
Photo: CDC Global | Flickr
