The World Health Organization (WHO) recently stated that the latest Ebola outbreak in Liberia has ended, signaling the end of all of West Africa’s known transmission chains.
Still, WHO warned the public that more Ebola outbreaks and flare-ups will occur in the future. The best protection against outbreaks is to continue strong surveillance and maintain response systems.
In May 2015, WHO declared Liberia as the first country free of Ebola transmissions. Unfortunately, since that time the virus re-emerged twice. November 2015 saw the latest Ebola case reported.
“Detecting and breaking every chain of transmission has been a monumental achievement,”
WHO Director-General
Margaret Chan said. “So much was needed and so much was accomplished by national authorities, heroic health workers, civil society, local and international organizations and generous partners. But our work is not done and vigilance is necessary to prevent new outbreaks.”
It has been 42 days since the last Liberian Ebola patients tested negatively for Ebola two different times.
“WHO commends Liberia’s government and people on their effective response to this recent re-emergence of Ebola,” Alex Gasasira, WHO’s representative in Liberia, said. “The rapid cessation of the flare-up is a concrete demonstration of the government’s strengthened capacity to manage disease outbreaks. WHO will continue to support Liberia in its effort to prevent, detect and respond to suspected cases.”
