The moment everyone thought the dreaded Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, had been eradicated from West Africa, Sierra Leone has recorded two fresh cases of the disease in the capital Freetown.
This is coming three weeks after the city recorded no new case of the virus and was thought to be free and possibly making headway towards being officially declared free.
The announcement by the country’s National Ebola Response Center followed a resurgence of cases in the northeast of the country, where President Ernest Bai Koroma this month ordered troops to enforce quarantines and a nighttime curfew in the districts of Kambia and Port Loko, according to reports.
Koroma said, “Complacency is our biggest challenge. Now more than ever is the time we must all remain vigilant in our households and communities.”
Health officials say there are fears of further infections as the cases occurred in a densely populated slum in Magazine Wharf.
The country’s National Ebola Response Centre said there was great concern because all Ebola quarantine facilities in Freetown had been closed.
A spokesperson for the center, Sidi Yahya Tunis, said, “This is worrisome because we had already closed all Ebola quarantine structures in Freetown since we had gone for weeks without a case,”
Just like Guinea, the north of Sierra Leone continues to be affected by the deadly virus which has killed over 11, 000 persons in it’s latest outbreak.
Nigeria was among the affected countries with about 8 deaths before being declared officially free by the World Health Organization last October.
In a similar vein, Liberia, was declared Ebola free in May, 2015 after 42 days without a new case.
