World Health Organization Declares Liberia Ebola-Free Once Again After The Outbreak’s Re-emergence In June
On Sept. 3, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Liberia Ebola-free after being hit by the outbreak for the second time in late June. The first reported outbreak of Ebola in Liberia peaked on August and September of 2014. That time the country was reported to have the largest number of transmissions among all nations struck by the disease, with 300 to 400 cases reported weekly.
From August to September, the city of Monrovia in West Africa had overflowing health facilities pushing these establishments to lock their gates. A lot of patients died in hospitals, with some of them not being claimed by relatives for days. Scarcity of fuel and food were experienced as markets closed along with schools, offices and health centers.
WHO reported on May 9 an Ebola-free Liberia after 42 days since the last reported victim was buried.
Unfortunately, six new cases of Ebola resurfaced almost two months after being declared Ebola-free.
"We have asked all county health officers to be on the alert," said Liberia's chief medical officer Francis Kateh then. "We are not saying the other counties have Ebola. But we need to alert them so that we wouldn't experience the previous outbreak."
According to Time on Saturday, the U.S. federal agencies have ceased their mandatory screening for passengers arriving at the U.S. airports from Liberia starting on Monday. The move followed the removal of the Ebola-affected nation from the list of countries that need additional screening by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Customs and Borders Protection.
However, passengers from Guinea and Sierra Leone will still continue to be screened at U.S. airports as both countries are still reported to have new cases of Ebola.
USA Today reported on July 16 Liberia has the largest death toll in the world with over 4,800 recorded fatalities. Since the outbreak began in 2013, more than 12,600 Ebola cases were reported with over 11,000 death worldwide.
