by By Jonathan Paye-Layleh
Axel Addy, Minister for Industry and Commerce of Liberia, speaks to the media about the impact of Ebola in his country during a news conference, at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Monday, Jan. 26, 2015. (AP Photo/Keystone,Salvatore Di Nolfi)
Liberia said Monday that there are currently only five confirmed cases of Ebola in the entire country—a dramatic turnaround in the West African nation where the virus has taken its deadliest toll.
At the height of the outbreak in August and September, Liberia was recording more than 300 new cases of the virus every week—and experts at the time said even that figure was likely an underestimate of the disease's true toll. To date 3,636 Liberians have died of Ebola, according to the World Health Organization.
But the outbreak has begun to wane, and the WHO said last week that Liberia recorded only eight new cases in the preceding week.
Now there are now just five people in the country being treated for Ebola, Tolbert Nyenswah, who heads the country's Ebola response, said Monday. Three of them are in Monrovia and two are in Grand Cape Mount County, near the Sierra Leonean border. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is expected to address the deadly outbreak in her state of the nation address later Monday.
Sierra Leone and Guinea—the other two West African countries hammered by the disease—have also seen a dramatic reduction in cases, but they are reporting more new infections than Liberia.
Still, Nyenswah cautioned that it was too early to say when Liberia would be Ebola-free because authorities must still do the difficult work of tracking down every infected person. Just one missed infection could seed a new cluster.
The World Health Organization also noted recently that experts can only trace about half of new cases in Guinea and Liberia to known contacts, meaning they don't know exactly where the virus is spreading.
In all, Ebola has sickened more than 21,000 people, the vast majority in West Africa, killing more than 8,600 of them.
Explore further: Liberia reports dozens of new Ebola cases on border
© 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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by By Jonathan Paye-Layleh
Axel Addy, Minister for Industry and Commerce of Liberia, speaks to the media about the impact of Ebola in his country during a news conference, at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Monday, Jan. 26, 2015. (AP Photo/Keystone,Salvatore Di Nolfi)
Liberia said Monday that there are currently only five confirmed cases of Ebola in the entire country—a dramatic turnaround in the West African nation where the virus has taken its deadliest toll.
At the height of the outbreak in August and September, Liberia was recording more than 300 new cases of the virus every week—and experts at the time said even that figure was likely an underestimate of the disease's true toll. To date 3,636 Liberians have died of Ebola, according to the World Health Organization.
But the outbreak has begun to wane, and the WHO said last week that Liberia recorded only eight new cases in the preceding week.
Now there are now just five people in the country being treated for Ebola, Tolbert Nyenswah, who heads the country's Ebola response, said Monday. Three of them are in Monrovia and two are in Grand Cape Mount County, near the Sierra Leonean border. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is expected to address the deadly outbreak in her state of the nation address later Monday.
Sierra Leone and Guinea—the other two West African countries hammered by the disease—have also seen a dramatic reduction in cases, but they are reporting more new infections than Liberia.
Still, Nyenswah cautioned that it was too early to say when Liberia would be Ebola-free because authorities must still do the difficult work of tracking down every infected person. Just one missed infection could seed a new cluster.
The World Health Organization also noted recently that experts can only trace about half of new cases in Guinea and Liberia to known contacts, meaning they don't know exactly where the virus is spreading.
In all, Ebola has sickened more than 21,000 people, the vast majority in West Africa, killing more than 8,600 of them.
Explore further: Liberia reports dozens of new Ebola cases on border
© 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Medical Xpress on facebook
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Liberia reports dozens of new Ebola cases on border
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Dozens of new Ebola cases have erupted in Liberia, near the border with Sierra Leone, Liberian health officials warned Monday, marking a setback amid recent improvements.
Ebola death toll tops 8,000: WHO
Jan 05, 2015
The death toll from the Ebola outbreak in west Africa has risen to 8,153 out of 20,656 cases recorded, the World Health Organization said Monday.
Ebola death toll rises to 7,890: WHO
Jan 01, 2015
The death toll from the Ebola outbreak in west Africa has risen to 7,890 out of 20,171 cases recorded, the World Health Organization said Wednesday.
Ebola death toll hits 8,235: WHO
Jan 07, 2015
The global death toll from the Ebola outbreak centred in west Africa has jumped to 8,235 out of 20,747 recorded cases, the World Health Organization said Wednesday.
Ebola death toll rises to 7,842: WHO
Dec 29, 2014
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