New Ebola case in Liberian capital: Health ministry

Medical staff wearing protective clothing treating the body of an Ebola victim at their facility in Kailahun, on August 14, 2014. PHOTO: AFP

MONROVIA (AFP) - Liberia has registered a new case of Ebola in its capital, the health ministry said on Friday (April 1), more than two months after the epidemic was declared over in the country.

"There is a new case of Ebola in Monrovia. We are coming soon with an official statement," a ministry of health official told AFP.

A resurgence of Ebola in a rural Guinean community has killed seven people in the last few weeks, but it is not known if the Liberian case is linked.

The World Health Organization was first alerted to the reappearance of Ebola symptoms among a family in Guinea on March 16, the same day it declared a similar flare-up over in Sierra Leone.

The WHO confirmed it was aware of the case, tweeting: "A new case of #Ebola is confirmed in #Liberia. Investigation and #EbolaResponse now underway." Liberia was the country worst hit by the outbreak with 4,800 deaths.

The WHO said on Tuesday that the Ebola outbreak in West Africa no longer constituted an international emergency, voicing confidence that remaining isolated cases in the affected countries can be contained.

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