2nd Ebola case declared in Liberia as health workers protest

Wednesday’s riot outside the health ministry occurred as Liberia confirmed its second case of Ebola, almost two months after the virus was declared eliminated from the country.

This comes from officials in the Liberia’s Ministry of Information, Cultural Affairs, and Tourism, reports ABC News.

A local doctor said officials had not ruled out the possibility of transmission from an animal.

It was a remarkable turnaround for the country which had been hit hardest by the virus, with more than 4,800 people losing their lives.

“Playing [at] home after many months due to Ebola means bringing back hope to clubs, fans and players, hope that in spite of the deadly outbreak, football can once again play its traditional role of uniting the country”, says Flomo.

The discovery additional Ebola cases in Liberia after been declared Ebola free by the World Health Organization is worrying lots of Liberians and their foreign partners including President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, saying this is very disturbing, but expressed hope that her country will have this situation on control.

The authorities are monitoring at least 100 people thought to have been in contact with a 17-year-old boy, Abraham Memaigar, who died on Sunday in Margibi County, about 50 kilometres east of the capital Monrovia.

The people who have been in contact with the boy and are at risk of spreading the virus have already been isolated, according to health officials. The quarantine is in place in the Nedowein area where the boy died.

Thomas-Greenfield said considering the resurgence of the disease in Liberia, the new case “is a warning to us that the job is not done”. “We must stay focused until we reach zero cases”. Memigar was diagnosed with malaria shortly before his death, only to become a confirmed Ebola victim posthumously. The Awareness Times, Sierra Leone’s largest newspaper,notes that Memigar had not traveled to Sierra Leone or Guinea before his disease, the two nations in which the outbreak has continued to ravage populations.

Last August, a Liberian national, Patrick Sawyer, imported the disease from his country to Lagos, Nigeria, resulting in the infection of 19 persons and seven deaths in the country. Liberia and Sierra Leone reportedly free of EVD are at present recording new cases.

“It’s possible we might see other cases, and we’re moving as quickly as possible to identify all the contacts to make sure they’re carefully monitored.”

His mother, father and siblings are already under quarantine in their home, said Tolbert Nyenswah, who heads up Liberia’s Ebola response.

It has not been proved that dogs can carry the virus, although humans have been infected by eating monkey flesh in past outbreaks.