Liberia is done with Ebola fever, says the World Health Organization (WHO), effectively closing the final chapter in the world’s worst outbreak of the disease.

The “end of active transmission” was declared, after 42 days without a new case in Liberia, and they now joins Guinea and Sierra Leone, which archieved the status last year.

The WHO, however warned that West Africa may see flare-ups of the virus that has killed more than 11,000 people since December 2013.

According to the WHO, a country is technically considered free of human-to-human transmission once two 21-day incubation periods have passed since the last known case tested negative for a second time.

WHO maintained, in a statement, that “all known chains of transmission have been stopped in West Africa”, with no cases reported for at least 42 days in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, the three states hardest-hit by the outbreak.

“So much was needed and so much was accomplished by national authorities, heroic health workers, civil society, local and international organizations and generous partners,” said WHO chief Margaret Chan.

It is a huge relief that the most devastating outbreak of Ebola is over. Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea now face the mammoth task of recovery.

The outbreak affected virtually every sector in these three countries. It exposed their weak health systems, which collapsed under the pressure of the epidemic.

Yet these countries are also badly affected by other deadly diseases, like malaria and tuberculosis, which were mostly ignored during the outbreak.

More than 17,000 Ebola survivors are dealing with a wide range of complications and social stigma. They include orphans with an uncertain future.

Ebola deaths

Figures up to 13 January 2016

11,315

Deaths – probable, confirmed and suspected

(Includes one in the US and six in Mali)

4,809 Liberia

3,955 Sierra Leone

2,536 Guinea

8 Nigeria

Source: WHO

According to the BBC, The economies of the three West-African countries were also badly damaged. Sierra Leone was one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, with double digit growth figures. But Ebola drove it into severe recession.

The road to complete recovery will be long and treacherous. It will no doubt continue to test the resilience of the three countries.