Liberia\u2019s last Ebola patient was discharged on Thursday after a ceremony in the capital, Monrovia, bringing to zero the number of known cases in the country and marking a milestone in West Africa\u2019s battle against the disease.<\/p>\n
Officials in Monrovia, the city where the raging epidemic littered the streets with bodies only five months ago, celebrated even as they warned that Liberia was at least weeks away from being officially declared free of Ebola. They also noted that the disease had flared up recently in neighboring Sierra Leone and Guinea, the two other countries hardest hit by Ebola.<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”qDDwUSH1TmEwkcJqeKh9nXmSHSjjtxKi”]\u201cIt was touching, it was pleasing, there was a lot of excitement because we feel that this is a victory,\u201d Tolbert Nyenswah, the deputy health minister in charge of Liberia\u2019s fight against Ebola, said in a telephone interview about the ceremony.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it\u2019s not over yet,\u201d he added. \u201cWe are still cautioning people. We told them they must still protect their villages, their towns. They should report any suspicion of Ebola to the health teams. We still have a response that is tight. Yeah, we made that point.\u201d<\/p>\n
The authorities are still tracking more than 100 people for possible exposure to the virus. As of Thursday, no new cases of Ebola had been confirmed inside Liberia for the past 13 days, Mr. Nyenswah said.<\/p>\n
If no new cases emerge, the epidemic in Liberia will be considered over officially on April 4, or 42 days after the last known infection. The 42-day marker is twice the longest incubation period for Ebola, 21 days.<\/p>\n
Liberia has suffered the highest number of deaths during the epidemic, with 4,117 recorded victims, according to the World Health Organization. More than 9,800 people have died in total.<\/p>\n
The health organization reported Wednesday that new cases had increased sharply \u2014 to 132 from 99 \u2014 in Sierra Leone and Guinea in the week before March 1. Transmission remains widespread in Sierra Leone, and Conakry, the capital of Guinea, suffered a marked increase, according to the organization.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, the last patient being treated in Liberia, Beatrice Yardolo, a 58-year-old English teacher, was released from an Ebola treatment center in Monrovia built by the Chinese government. Ms. Yardolo, who lost two sons and a daughter to the disease, was treated for Ebola at the center and tested negative on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel fine to be back home with my family after being away for almost three weeks \u2014 I feel very proud,\u201d Ms. Yardolo said in a telephone interview. \u201cI\u2019m very grateful to God because he does everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Music could be heard from inside her family home in Monrovia, the sound of the festivities amplified by a loud rooster.<\/p>\n
Her husband, Steve Yardolo, said: \u201cI think you hear the music. We are happy. The family is sitting around here, and we continue to celebrate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms. Yardolo\u2019s case was part of a recent outbreak in a community called St. Paul\u2019s Bridge, located in what was one of the biggest Ebola hot spots in Monrovia, New Kru Town. The outbreak was unusually violent and far-reaching, in part because it involved criminal gangs that did not cooperate with the authorities and fears that it could be spread through a knife fight with one member nicknamed Time Bomb.<\/p>\n
The recent outbreak in St. Paul\u2019s Bridge also exposed the continuing weakness in Liberia\u2019s health care system, as patients with Ebola were admitted to local health clinics that had failed to carry out proper triage. Hundreds of health care workers at half a dozen health clinics were placed under quarantine for possible exposure, though none of them became infected.<\/p>\n
In Ms. Yardolo\u2019s case, her infection was traced to her oldest son, Steve, 32, who worked as a hygienist at an Ebola treatment center. He was infected fatally while performing his duties or interacting with a sick neighbor, Dr. Mosoka Fallah, Liberia\u2019s chief epidemiologist, said by telephone.<\/p>\n
\u201cSteve was a popular member of the community and a member of a local group of intellectuals,\u201d Dr. Fallah said. \u201cIt\u2019s a big loss.\u201d<\/p>\n
The virus was transmitted to other members of his family, including a brother, Elijah, 30, and a sister, Amanda, 20, both of whom died. Believing that Amanda was suffering from appendicitis, her family took her to a clinic where she was treated.<\/p>\n
Dr. Fallah said the transmission inside this family was typical of how the disease had spread during the epidemic as a whole.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt started from somebody getting it from outside the family and bringing it to the family, a caregiver who gives it to the rest,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Ms. Yardolo, who was taking care of her daughter Amanda, eventually also was t infected. But unlike her family members, she reacted quickly and survived.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe moment I started getting the signs and the symptoms, the next day I said they should send an ambulance to carry me to the center,\u201d Ms. Yardolo said. \u201cSo because of going early I felt that God will take care of things, and he did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though her family, including three other children, could still be heard celebrating, Ms. Yardolo grew silent for several seconds at the thought of the three whom Ebola had claimed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s so heartbreaking,\u201d she said. \u201cHowever, we have to let go somehow and celebrate my life with the rest of the children.<\/p>\n
Source: The New York Times<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Liberia\u2019s last Ebola patient was discharged on Thursday after a ceremony in the capital, Monrovia, bringing to zero the number of known cases in the country and marking a milestone in West Africa\u2019s battle against the disease. Officials in Monrovia, the city where the raging epidemic littered the streets with bodies only five months ago, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":96973,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[14],"yoast_head":"\n