Ebola restarting in Liberia

RSOE Emergency and Disaster Information Service
Budapest, Hungary

Situation Update No. 1
Liberia - Biological Hazard on 2015-03-21 at 03:41:00

Ref: BH-20150321-47426-LBR

Situation Update No. 1

On 2015-03-27 at 10:22:57 [UTC]

Event: Biological Hazard
Location: Liberia Capital City Monrovia

The Ministry of Health through the Deputy of the Incident Management System, Francis Ketter, has disclosed that so far there are two new suspected Ebola cases in Monrovia.

Dr. Ketter disclosed that one suspect is a resident of the Clara Town Community while the other is an active contact who associated with the recent confirmed case in Caldwell.

He said they are showing signs and symptoms of the deadly Ebola virus and have already been isolated while sample tests will be conducted soon noting that all measures are put in place to trace those who might have been in contact with the suspect from Clara Town in order to avoid further transmission of the virus in that part of the country.

According to Dr. Ketter, the suspected person from Clara Town has no connection with the latest confirmed Ebola case from Caldwell something which makes the situation a bit complicated but urged citizens to be calm and trust the ability of the health team. \"I know the situation seems troubling but there is no need for the public to panic because the Ministry of Health has all the manpower and logistics to deal with the issue now so what happened in March 2014 will not be repeated this time around,\" he added.

He said though Liberia has come a long way in the fight against the Ebola virus, there is still a need for people to continue to adhere to all the necessary preventive measures given by the Ministry of Health and stop being complacent because Ebola is still in the country.

Meanwhile, the head of the Incident Management System has complained that the act of some journalists displaying the photos of suspected Ebola patients in newspapers will cause people to hide if they begin to show signs of the virus.

Dr. Ketter called on the media to respect what he referred to as medical privacy of people who are considered contacts or suspected patients in order to help in the fight against the virus.

The latest discovery came at a time when Liberia has gone over 28 days without any new Ebola case throughout the country; something which Liberians saw as a giant step in the fight against the deadly Ebola virus.

With the newest development, it seems the Ebola virus is now returning and this is disturbing news for the huge efforts and success made by the Liberian government and other partners in the fight against this vicious demonic Ebola virus.

A 44-year old business woman is the newly confirmed case in the country and the actual source of her infection is yet to be established while at least 80 persons are currently under observation in the Caldwell Community.