The 17-year-old boy tested positive for the virus 48 days after the World Health Organization
declared Liberia free of Ebola on May 9. More than 8,000 people died
from the disease after the virus spread across the country in 2014.
While officials only confirmed the virus after the teenager had died, he
was buried according to Ebola protocols to reduce risk of infection,
according to the Liberian government.
“Although this was not the situation we were hoping for, this incident
demonstrates[s] that our alert systems are working,” Liberia’s Minister
of Health Dr. Bernice Dhan said in a statement. “The structures we have
in place to strengthen our surveillance systems in Liberia
allowed us to respond quickly. It is critical that the Liberian people
remain vigilant and continue all prevention measures to stop the spread
of Ebola.”
Contact tracing used to identify anyone else potentially exposed has
already begun, according to the Associated Press. Government officials
said the cause for the initial infection remains unknown. Dhan asked
those exposed to be cooperative about quarantine and for others to speak
up if they have symptoms.
“We cannot do this without the participation and support of the communities,” Dhan said on Tuesday at the a press conference.
Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt
University Medical School, said it’s not surprising an Ebola case
reappeared in Liberia.
“We have continuing smoldering Ebola in Guinea and Sierra Leone
and it is likely once this investigation is completed there may be
association with travel to those countries,” said Schaffner, who is not
investigating this case.
“The good thing is this [infection] occurred in a rural village and
appears to have been diagnosed rather promptly and appropriate public
health responses were put into place,” he said.
Schaffner said it appears the government have taken quick and clear
steps that should stop the virus from turning into an outbreak similar
to the one that started last year.
