First recorded case of Ebola since Liberia was declared virus free

A Liberian has died of Ebola in the first recorded case since the country at the heart of an epidemic was declared free of the virus on May 9th, Deputy Health Minister Tolbert Nyenswah said on Tuesday morning.

“A 17-year-old corpse was tested positive for Ebola virus,” said Mr Nyenswah. “This took place in Margibi County. There is no need to panic. The corpse has been buried and our contact tracing has started work.”

Last week, neighbouring country Guinea put four villages under a 21-day quarantine as part of a robust strategy to stamp out a lingering Ebola epidemic after new cases of the disease were discovered there.

The worst Ebola epidemic on record has killed more than 11,000 people in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea over the last year and a half.