3 new Ebola case in Liberia 2 months after all-clear

By Evelyn T. Kpadeh

MONROVIA, Liberia

Health authorities in Liberia have confirmed three new Ebola cases in the capital Monrovia, 47 days after the country was last declared free of the virus in September.
At a press conference held Friday, Health Minister Bernice Dahn described the latest cases as the fourth wave of the outbreak in the country.

“It is possible that we will find more cases, the key is to stop it, find the source and prevent the next one,” Dahn said.

She said the patients were at high risk and as such have been taken to the ELWA Ebola Treatment unit for medical treatment.

“It all started on Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015 when we received a report from one of our reference laboratories that a blood sample from a live patient tested positive with Ebola,” she said. “The sample was taken from the patient who presented signs including fever, weakness and bleeding at a local hospital.”

Thousands died at the height of the epidemic in the West African nation last year.

The virus killed more than 4,800 in Liberia, according to the WHO. The agency reported more than 11,300 dead out of nearly 29,000 cases since the epidemic erupted in December 2013, mainly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Medecins Sans Frontieres recently announced the last known Ebola patient in Guinea had recovered. The country must have 42 days with no cases before being declared Ebola free. Sierra Leone was declared free of the virus earlier this month.