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Ebola: 5 cases remain in Liberia
Latest reports indicate that Liberia is dealing with just 5 remaining cases of Ebola, in the clearest sign yet that the country is nearing the end of the outbreak.
The worst outbreak of the virus in history has seen the west African nation and its neighbors Guinea and Sierra Leone register almost 8,000 deaths in a year.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the 5 cases are laboratory confirmed cases.
The WHO is working with Liberian health officials in getting down to zero cases.
The country’s assistant Minister of Health, Tolbert Nyensuwah, confirmed the figure, adding that 3 of the cases were in the capital Monrovia, while the other 2 cases were in the northwestern counties of Bomi and Grand Cape Mount.
“It means that we are going down to zero if everything goes well, if other people do not get sick in other places.”
At the height of the epidemic in August and September, Liberia was reporting more than 300 new cases a week and overwhelmed aid workers were having to turn people away from swamped clinics.
In a further sign of progress, Sierra Leone lifted quarantine measures last week.
Sierra Leone had restricted travel for around half its population, sealing off 6 of its 14 districts and numerous tribal chiefdoms.
President Ernest Bai Koroma pointed to a “steady downward trend” in new cases in recent weeks, adding that “victory is in sight”.
The relaxation, and the progress seen in Liberia, marks huge progress against an epidemic which has seen commerce all but grind to a halt, with restrictions on movement halting crop harvests and sparking warnings of a looming food crisis.
Source: AFP