Disease resurfaces hours after World Health Organization announces an end to the current outbreak in west Africa

Less than 24 hours after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Liberia free of Ebola transmission, a case has been confirmed in Sierra Leone. According to an Ebola test centre, a patient has died from the disease in the country’s Tonkolili district.

Yesterday, the WHO warned that although the current outbreak of Ebola had ended in west Africa, there was still a risk of small flare-ups in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

This is the first Ebola death in Sierra Leone since it was declared Ebola transmission free on 7 November last year. Health officials in the country will now seek the people the patient had recently been in contact with to try to prevent the disease spreading.

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