A new Ebola case has emerged in Sierra Leone, just one day after the World Health Organization declared the outbreak over in West Africa.
Tests on a 22-year-old woman who died earlier this month in Sierra Leone proved positive for the virus, Francis Langoba Kellie, spokesman for the Office of National Security, told a local radio program.
According to Kellie, the woman came from the Northern Kambia District and went to the Northern Tonkolili District for medical attention before dying. Her contacts are being traced now and teams have been sent to the area for investigations.
Certain areas will be quarantined, he said.
“Our level of preparedness and response capabilities are very high and there is no cause for concern,” Kellie said according to The Associated Press. “We encourage the public to continue to practice the hygiene regulations which were in force during the period while Ebola was raging and the emergency regulations are still in force.”
On Thursday, WHO declared an end to the Ebola outbreak, which was the deadliest one ever, after no new cases emerged in Liberia. It had also been at least two weeks since Ebola had been seen in Guinea or Sierra Leone.
Before Sierra Leone was declared free of the disease on Nov. 7, nearly 4,000 had died. Guinea was declared free on Dec. 29, while Thursday marked Liberia’s third time being declared free from Ebola transmission.
WHO declares Ebola transmission over when a country goes through two incubation periods — 21 days each — without a new case of Ebola. Countries are then placed on a 90-day heightened surveillance.
Since Ebola emerged at the end of 2013, the virus has killed more than 11,300. The virus is spread through direct contact with the bodily fluids of people who are sick or bodies of the dead.
