Liberia is on a heightened state of alert after Ebola cases were confirmed near its northeastern border with neighbouring Guinea, APA has learnt on Tuesday.
President George Weah has instructed the country’s health personnel to be alive to the threat of a possible return of the deadly disease which ravaged the country along with Sierra Leone and Guinea between 2014 and 2016.
During this period some 11, 000 people had died of the epidemic in the three countries whose health sectors are currently reeling from the ravages of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Guinean government has dispatched health inspectors to the towns of Nzerekore and Goueke, not far from the border with Liberia.
They are working in conjunction with technical experts from the World Health Organization to determine the cause of the latest Ebola outbreak which has killed at least three people out of 7 confirmed cases.
According to press reports, a group of people who had returned from a funeral in Goueke last Sunday were suffering from diarrhea, bleeding and vomiting after apparently contracting Ebola.
However, Weah’s government has not revealed any strategy to stop Ebola from reentering the country.
Liberia’s chief medical officer, Dr. Francis Kateh said the country will not close its border with Guinea over fears that travellers may sneak into the country from other crossing points undetected with the virus.
The Democratic Republic of Congo is also dealing with an Ebola emergency after several cases of the disease were confirmed in the country last week.
WN/as/APA