New Ebola death reported in northern Sierra Leone
BY ON
Health authorities in northern Sierra Leone had to quarantine the individuals after a 16-year-old girl died of Ebola in an apparent case of sexual transmission.
In August, Sierra Leone’s last known Ebola patient was released from a hospital after recovering, a milestone that allowed the West African nation to begin a 42-day countdown toward being declared free of Ebola transmission. But since then a new spate of cases has erupted, leaving two dead and five people in treatment.
NERC described the case as “disappointing” but said response teams had been well prepared for coping with such an event. “Three patients who came into contact with the girl at another health facility have also been taken to the treatment unit”.
The teenager died Sunday in the northern city of Makeni, the National Ebola Response Centre (NERC) said Monday, two weeks after the death of a 67-year-old food trader in a neighbouring district.
According to initial suspicion is that the girl got Ebola after having sex with a survivor of the illness, but this has not yet been confirmed. This possibility now raises concerns that the virus may survive longer in sperm as the survivor in question was discharged in March this year after spending many more days than the 90-day period during which the virus is said to be active in sperm.
Upon that, the entire Makeni village of over 700 people was put under quarantine, including seven high risk relatives of the deceased.