On Jan. 14 of this year, the World Health Organization declared that the spread of Ebola had been stopped in West Africa, although it did caution that the virus may re-emerge.
Now, however, comes a report that the virus has re-emerged, with a new death from the virus being reported in Sierra Leone shortly after the WHO report.
According to officials, the 22-year-old woman's death is the first reported in Sierra Leone since the region was declared Ebola-free on Nov. 7, 2015, although it's important to mention that the country was in a 90-day period of surveillance. WHO says that it is investigating the death and looking into the woman's contacts, which is how health officials trace the disease so they can manage treatment and prevent widespread re-infection.
While it does seem as though the epidemic phase of Ebola is over, isolated cases of the virus are expected to pop up. According to the WHO, a virus' transmission is declared to have been halted after 42 days with no new cases. That 42 days is the equivalent of two times the virus' 21-day incubation period. Despite this, the virus is able to survive for months in semen and in tissues such as the eye and central nervous system.
In fact, because Ebola can be transmitted sexually, it is anticipated that isolated incidents will continue to pop up.
"The challenge with sexual transmission is not that it would be a source of many new Ebola virus disease cases, but that it may be a source of late cases," said Armand Sprecher, a public health specialist with Doctors without Borders, in an editorial.
Photo: DFID | Flickr
