A 17-year-old boy has died of Ebola in Liberia, officials announced. This is distressing news for the country, which had been declared Ebola free in May.
Deputy health minister Tolbert Nyenswah said tests confirmed that the teenager from Nedowein village, which is near the international airport, had died of the disease on Wednesday, as reported by the BBC News.
Officials are trying to reassure the country and urging citizens not to panic over the new Ebola death. They said that the boy was buried using methods to not spread the virus. are investigating how he contracted Ebola. Travel is one of the possible causes of infection to be examined in this case.
The village is under quarantine and food and supplies are being air lifted to the community. This same area had been heavily affected by the Ebola epidemic last year.
Over 27,000 people had contracted Ebola and than 11,200 people have died of the disease since December 2013, the vast majority of them in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.
Ebola rates in West Africa have been reduced greatly, although Guinea and Sierra Leone had seen new cases increase in June, possibly related to the rainy season in West Africa.
The new Ebola death in Liberia had been the first since April.
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A recent, small outbreak of three Ebola infections in an impoverished fishing village in Sierra Leone had raised concerns about a surge in infections.
