Friday, 3 July 2015

EBOLA: LIBERIA CONFIRMS THREE NEW CASES OF EBOLA SEVEN WEEKS AFTER BEING DECLARED EBOLA FREE

Liberia on Thursday confirmed three cases of Ebola nearly two months after being declared Ebola free.
Liberia is currently investigating whether the disease had spread through animals before resurfacing as the three new cases who had tested positive for the disease according to Dr. Moses Massaquoi, a case management team leader for Liberia's Ebola task force "have a history of having had dog meat together".
Eating dog meat is common in Liberia.
17 year old Abraham Memaigar from the village of Nedowein, about 50 km from capital Monrovia died on Sunday and was the first reported case of Ebola since Liberia was declared Ebola free.
Locals speculate that Memaigar and others had recently dug up a dead dog and eaten it but it has not been proved yet that dogs carry Ebola virus but in the past humans have been infected by eating monkey flesh.
Many West African countries as a precaution have banned the consumption of bush meat.
Massaquoi said the deaths of hundreds of cattle in remote Lofa county as well as whether domestic animals are carrying the virus is being investigated by the response team.
Deputy Health Minister, Tolbert Nyenswah said on Thursday, "The two (latest) live cases are 24 years old and 27 years old. They are stable".
None of the new victims is known to have travelled to Sierra Leone or Guinea.
Nyenswah said 175 people believed to have come in contact with the three cases are being monitored though none has shown any symptoms yet.

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