About 27 people may have been exposed to the deadly Ebola virus after having contact with a woman who died of Ebola this week in Sierra Leone, according to an aid agency report on Friday. This ultimately raised the risk of more flare ups just as the Ebola epidemic on record appeared to be fading. This new Ebola case was confirmed months after country had been declared Ebola-free.
Yesterday 14th January, the World Health Organization (WHO) had declared that “all known chains of transmission have been stopped in West Africa”, indicating that the enire West African region was officially free of the disease after a horrific two-year epidemic that wiped out more than 11,300 people.
WHO has warned of potential flare-ups given that survivors can carry the virus in their body for months. The Sierra Leone occurrence is particularly troubling as authorities failed to follow basic health protocols, according to reports compiled by an anonymous humanitarian agency.
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The victim, a 22-year-old female named Mariatu Jalloh, began showing symptoms at the beginning of the year, though the exact date is unknown, the report states. As a student in Port Loko, which is the largest town in Sierra Leone’s Northern Province, she travelled to Bamoi Luma near the border with Guinea in late December.
She was reported to have used three different taxis when returning to her parents’ home. Jalloh was having diarrhoea and vomiting, the report said. About 22 family house members nursed her during the ordeal.
She sought treatment at a local hospital on Jan. 8 where a health worker, who did not wear protective clothing, took a blood sample. It was not immediately clear whether the sample was tested for Ebola.
She was treated as an outpatient and returned home, where she died on Jan. 12. Health workers took a swab test of Jalloh’s body following her death, which tested positive for Ebola.
Asked about apparent errors in handling the case, Sierra Leone health ministry spokesman Sidi Yahya Tunis said that the patient had been tested for the virus and had received treatment in a government hospital. He did not give further details.
But both Sierra Leone and Liberia have seen the disease return despite passing a 42-day period with no new cases, after which countries are declared free of Ebola transmission.
“It is really important that people don’t understand this 42-day announcement as the sign that we should all just pack up and go home,” said WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic. “We should stay there and be ready to respond to these possible cases.”
Ebola is passed on through blood and bodily fluids, and kills about 40 percent of those who contracted the virus.
While the WHO has said that another major outbreak is unlikely, it stated that there was a risk of flare-ups throughout 2016 because of the way the virus can persist in those who survive it. Research on survivors has located it in semen, breast milk, vaginal secretions, spinal fluid and fluids around the eyes.
