Liberia confirmed two more Ebola cases on Thursday in the same town where the specimens from the dead body of a teenage boy tested positive for virus few days before. "We have, as of yesterday, three confirmed cases. One expired. The two live cases are stable," deputy health minister Tolbert Nyenswah announced, according to Reuters.
"Two live cases are now in the Ebola treatment unit. There are a 24-year-old and a 27-year-old in the unit. They are stable and doing fine," he said, according to GNN Liberia. "They are from the same community. So the situation is localized in Liberia in one town called Nedowein," said Nyenswah, who is also head of Liberia's Ebola response team.
On June 29, the Liberian government confirmed that specimens from the dead body of a teenage boy tested positive for Ebola Virus Disease (EVD). It is the African nation's first Ebola case since May 9, when the WHO had declared Liberia virus-free, according to New York Times.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said close to 200 people have been in contact with the teenage boy while he had symptoms of Ebola and these people are now being monitored.
"The investigation revealed that close to 200 people had been in contact with the young man while he had symptoms of Ebola and these people are now being closely monitored," WHO said in a statement on Friday.
"Although transmission of the virus had ceased, Liberia remained at high risk of a recurrence of Ebola due to ongoing transmission in neighbouring Guinea and Sierra Leone. For this reason Liberia then entered a 90-day period of vigilance involving testing anyone with features of Ebola virus disease and testing post-mortem swabs for Ebola virus," the statement further said.
The Liberian authorities said they are investigating whether the virus had spread through animals in new outbreak. They suspect the three boys had shared a meal of dog meat and got infected, reported Mail & Guardian.
The latest Ebola outbreak in three West African countries - Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea - has killed more than 11,200 people.
