Health authorities in Sierra Leone said they are investigating a possible case of Ebola death in Tonkolili district just a few hours after the World Health Organization announced that the transmission of the hemorrhagic virus in West Africa has ended.
The UN agency on Thursday officially declared Liberia as Ebola-free, the last country to get the clearance. WHO director-general Margaret Chan described this as a "monumental achievement" after the deadly disease infected 28,500 people and killed 11,300 during its worst outbreak.
Managing and controlling the disease involved tracking down, testing and treating thousands of infected people. Thousands of those who were exposed to the virus also need to be located and monitored for three weeks, which is the incubation period of the virus.
Despite what appears to be a victory over the disease, experts have cautioned that it may be too early to declare the epidemic is over as small flare-ups of the disease are still likely to emerge in the countries that were most ravaged by the disease: Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia.
"We've been humbled by this virus multiple times during this outbreak, so I think we need to be cautious," said William Fischer II from the University of North Carolina. "As long as there is infectious virus that continues to hide out ... that is a potential for a reignition of this outbreak, especially if we relax infection control and prevention."
WHO's chief of emergency risk management Rick Brennan said the job is not yet done, noting that there had been 10 small flare-ups that can be attributed to the persistence of the virus in those who survived.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon himself warned that the region may still see sporadic cases in the coming year albeit he was positive that the potential and frequency of these flare-ups would drop over time.
The reality that the disease can resurface emerged hours after WHO's announcement. Health ministry officials said that a female student in Sierra Leone was reported to have died from Ebola on Thursday. Initial swab testing showed the woman tested positive for Ebola.
"Complete findings will be made known to the public by tomorrow (Friday)," a senior health ministry official told the AFP saying that further tests were underway.
Photo : NIAID | Flickr
