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Ebola Case in 10-Year-Old Is Confirmed in Liberia Ebola Cases in 3 Family Members Confirmed in Liberia
(about 1 hour later)
A 10-year-old boy in Liberia has contracted Ebola, two months after the country was declared free of the virus, health officials said on Friday. Three members of a family in Liberia have contracted Ebola, two months after the country was declared free of the virus, health officials said on Friday.
Officials are concerned that the boy, whose family lives in the eastern Paynesville district of the capital, Monrovia, might have exposed his father, mother and siblings, who are all being tested, according to a Liberian health official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the Health Ministry had not yet made a formal statement. The first documented case in the family was a 10-year-old boy who started showing symptoms last week, said a Liberian health official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
The Associated Press quoted Dr. Francis N. Kateh, the country’s medical officer and acting head of its Ebola case management system, as saying of the case: “You can say confirmed.” After attending school on Monday and Tuesday, the boy was admitted to a hospital and was transported to an Ebola treatment unit on Wednesday, the official said.
The World Health Organization declared Liberia free of Ebola on May 9, but there was a resurgence of the disease the next month, sickening four people, two of whom died. The country was declared Ebola-free again on Sept. 3. The boy’s test came back positive on Thursday, as did subsequent tests for his father and a sibling, the official said, adding that at least seven health care workers may have treated him without the protective equipment essential for Ebola cases.
In Geneva, Dr. Bruce Aylward, the World Health Organization’s special representative for the Ebola response and deputy director-general for outbreaks and health emergencies, told officials that the new case had not dimmed hopes that West African countries might be still moving toward eliminating the original outbreak. The World Health Organization declared Liberia free of Ebola on May 9, but a resurgence of the disease the next month sickened four people, two of whom died. The country was declared Ebola-free again on Sept. 3.
The boy’s case appears to point to the persistence of the virus among survivors, which can result in occasional resurgence of the disease, Dr. Aylward said, adding that flare-ups are expected to be less common and to end in 2016, Aylward said. In Geneva, Dr. Bruce Aylward, the World Health Organization’s special representative for the Ebola response and deputy director general for outbreaks and health emergencies, told officials that the new case had not dimmed hopes that West African countries might still be moving toward eliminating the original outbreak.
The boy’s case appears to point to the persistence of the virus among survivors, which can result in occasional resurgence of the disease, Dr. Aylward said, adding that flare-ups are expected to be less common and to end in 2016.
Dr. Aylward, said the boy had no known contacts with a survivor or a history of travel that might have put him at risk. “The investigation is ongoing,” Dr. Aylward said. “The country has moved extremely quickly.”
He said the latest developments were the seventh time the W.H.O. suspected that a flare-up was related to the persistence of the virus in the population of survivors. For example, scientists have shown that the virus remains present for months in the semen of some men who recover from the disease, and could, in rare cases, be transmitted through unprotected sex.
In all cases, however, transmission has been stopped quickly, with a low number of subsequent cases. New tools include an experimental vaccine that can be given to those who come into contact with patients.
Dr. Aylward said the new case highlighted the importance of maintaining strong surveillance programs.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta said in a statement that it was working closely with the Liberian government and with international organizations. It noted that sporadic cases had been expected in Liberia, even though it had been declared free of Ebola.
“Even though it has been nearly four months since the last Ebola patient was discharged from a Liberian Ebola treatment unit, Liberia has maintained a heightened state of vigilance,” the C.D.C. said in the statement. “Responders have proven to be effective in rapidly identifying, isolating and treating new cases. As the situation continues to evolve, C.D.C. and partners are working hard to rapidly control this case.”
A slow initial global response to the outbreak has been blamed for the scale and length of the epidemic, which killed more than 11,000 in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
On Sunday, a committee appointed by the W.H.O.’s director general called for overhauls at the agency in the wake of the epidemic, including integrating emergency response and outbreak control functions, with oversight by an independent body.
Three other panels, including one convened by Harvard and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and another by the National Academy of Medicine, are expected to release recommendations on preventing and controlling future pandemics in the coming weeks.