Sierra Leone announces new Ebola death, raising fears of fresh outbreaks

Sierra Loene announced Monday a school going girl who died recently in the northern district of Bombali was tested positive of the Ebola virus, the first confirmed Ebola death in the district for nearly six months. This is another major setback in the country's fight against Ebola following a 67-year-old woman in the northern Kambia district confirmed dead of the epidemic about two weeks ago. And currently at least four Ebola patients believed to be related to the old lady are receiving treatment.Sierra Leone was ready to be in countdown to Ebola free country as it discharged the last remaining Ebola patient from its treatment centers on Aug. 24.

The National Ebola Response Center (NERC) said the 16-year-old girl was found to be positive on Sunday after she complained of being ill and her condition was very grave.

The District Ebola Team Coordinator of Bombali Emmanuel Konteh said the girl was taken immediately to an Ebola treatment center in the district where she died later.

Konteh said immediately the entire village of about 700 people where the girl stays was put under quarantine, including seven high risk relatives of the deceased.

The way the girl contracted the virus is yet to be ascertained, but since she had not traveled outside the village in years, it was intimated that she might have been infected by her boyfriend, an Ebola survivor who was discharged in March.

According to medical experts, the Ebola virus may survive longer than previously thought in sperm, and an Ebola survivor must stay off sex at least for 90 days after discharge for fear of sexual transmission.

The new case has raise fears of fresh outbreaks, but the NERC authorities have called for calm as they are on top of the situation.

Source: New China