World Health Organization Reports Liberia Is Ebola Free

More than a year after the Ebola outbreak was first reported in West Africa, the World Health Organization has announced that the nation of Liberia is now free of the Ebola Virus. On their website, the WHO issued a statement claiming that it’s been forty-two days since the last laboratory confirmed case. The last victim of the virus was a woman from Monrovia who was infected on March 20th, and died on March 27th. Over 300 people who may have been exposed to her were identified, and all have since been released from quarantine and monitoring.

While not having the highest percentage of cases, they did end up having the largest number of deaths between all nine countries that reported infections. The death toll for Liberia currently stands at 4,716.  375 health workers were also infected and 189 lost their lives.

However, the epidemic is not quite over yet. The nations of Guinea and Sierra Leone are still reporting a handful of new cases each week, and the medical community has been concerned over a recent case involving an unidentified man who was found to be still carrying the virus, six months after recovering. Still, it appears that the Ebola epidemic, which has claimed the lives of over 10,000 people, may be fully contained in the weeks ahead.