A fifteen-year-old boy has become Liberia’s first Ebola victim since the country was triumphantly declared free of the disease for the second time in as many months.
Nathan Gbotoe tested positive for the deadly disease last week in a hospital in Paynesville, a district in the capital Monrovia. By Monday the teenager had succumbed to the illness.
Liberia was one of the worst affected by the latest Ebola outbreak: since December 2013 more than 4,800 people died after contracting the disease in a country that was ill-equipped to combat the huge number of infected.
On 9 May and 3 September experts declared the country Ebola-free, only to have the disease return with the death of a 17-year-old boy and girl in July.
Ebola can survive for months in survivors’ semen, eye fluid, breast milk and spinal fluid but medical research has bene unable to explain why symptoms persist.
Gbotoe’s father and brother are also being treated for Ebola, officials confirmed.
“The fight against Ebola is not over yet, but we must not lose hope and must continue the practices we used to beat Ebola before. We can win this battle again with your participation and support of the communities,” the Liberian Health Ministry said in a statement.
