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Another Ebola Fatality Is Reported in Liberia Another Ebola Fatality Is Reported in Liberia
(about 1 hour later)
MONROVIA, Liberia — A young woman who died hours after being admitted to an Ebola treatment unit on Sunday became the second Ebola fatality since Liberia was declared free of the virus on May 9, government officials said on Wednesday. MONROVIA, Liberia — A young woman who died hours after being admitted to an Ebola treatment unit on Sunday became the second Ebola fatality since Liberia was declared free of the virus on May 9, government officials said on Wednesday.
Even though her name was on a contact list, monitors at first failed to detect that the woman had become symptomatic, according to Tolbert Nyenswah, the head of Liberia’s Ebola response team. Even though her name was on a contact list, monitors at first failed to detect that the woman had become symptomatic, according to Tolbert Nyenswah, a deputy minister who heads Liberia’s Ebola response system.
The woman, who was the sixth Liberian to become infected since May 9, was being quarantined in her family home in Paynesville, a city on the edge of Monrovia. Another member of the household who had been infected with the virus was removed from the home earlier. According to the health officials, all six of the Ebola patients were part of the same cluster as a 17-year-old man whose body tested positive for the virus before he was buried in another community a short distance from Liberia’s international airport.The woman, who was the sixth Liberian to become infected since May 9, was being quarantined in her family home in Paynesville, a city on the edge of Monrovia. Another member of the household who had been infected with the virus was removed from the home earlier. According to the health officials, all six of the Ebola patients were part of the same cluster as a 17-year-old man whose body tested positive for the virus before he was buried in another community a short distance from Liberia’s international airport.
According to health care workers, people whose names are on the contact list and are under quarantine are supposed to be visited daily by monitors who take their temperature and assess their general health. Mr. Nyenswah said the woman had reportedly taken medicine to suppress her fever, and he ordered a detailed investigation to determine “what went wrong with this case that somebody was on a contact list, that they were not picked up immediately.” He said monitors were being retrained to assess each contact’s overall condition.According to health care workers, people whose names are on the contact list and are under quarantine are supposed to be visited daily by monitors who take their temperature and assess their general health. Mr. Nyenswah said the woman had reportedly taken medicine to suppress her fever, and he ordered a detailed investigation to determine “what went wrong with this case that somebody was on a contact list, that they were not picked up immediately.” He said monitors were being retrained to assess each contact’s overall condition.
“She was home, and the home was being monitored,” Mr. Nyenswah said. “People should not panic and be afraid.”“She was home, and the home was being monitored,” Mr. Nyenswah said. “People should not panic and be afraid.”
Scientists and epidemiologists have yet to find the source of infection, but have determined through genetic sequencing tests that the virus in the 17-year-old was similar to viruses circulating in the region last year. That suggests that it was transmitted in recent weeks by a survivor harboring the virus in a part of the body that is relatively protected from the immune system. Scientists and epidemiologists have yet to find the source of infection, but have determined through genetic sequencing tests that the virus in the 17-year-old was similar to viruses circulating in the region last year.
Eleven people are currently in an Ebola treatment center in Monrovia, government health workers said. Two of the infected have since twice tested negative for the virus and are scheduled to be released this weekend, Mr. Nyenswah said. Others are either undergoing treatment or are being monitored for the virus. Eleven people are currently in an Ebola treatment center in Monrovia, government health workers said. Two of the infected have since recovered and are scheduled to be released this weekend, Mr. Nyenswah said.
There were 30 confirmed cases of Ebola last week across the three countries still affected by the epidemic, according to the World Health Organization. For the first time in months, most of the cases in Sierra Leone and Guinea were in the capital cities of those countries.
Last Friday at an Ebola recovery conference held at the United Nations in New York, the United States pledged $266 million in aid to help the three countries strengthen health care and other systems in the wake of the crisis.