2015-01-16 08:07
Freetown - A nurse working for the Red Cross in Sierra Leone has
died of Ebola in the eastern district of Kenema, where no new cases had
been reported for 37 days, the organisation said on Thursday.
The
man, who was working at the IFRC Ebola treatment centre in Kenema,
"passed away on 13 January 2015 and was confirmed positive for Ebola
virus disease later that day", the International Federation of Red Cross
and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said in a statement.
The Red
Cross said it was carrying out an investigation to determine how and
where he became infected, and 29 people who had contact with him were
being monitored for symptoms of the disease.
Fight against Ebola
District
medical officer Mohamed Vandy said "the family and co-workers of the
deceased are now quarantined for 21 days", the maximum incubation period
for the virus.
Prior
to the nurse's death, Kenema district had been free of new cases of
Ebola for 37 days, health ministry spokesperson Abass Mamara told AFP.
"There were no cases reported from 6 December 2014 until Monday, 12 January," he said.
In
the neighbouring district of Kailahun, no new cases had been reported
for at least 34 days, according to Doctors Without Borders (MSF), which
is leading the fight against Ebola in West Africa.
Kenema and
Kailahun have been under quarantine since August. The Eastern Province,
which includes both districts, was the first epicentre of the epidemic
in the country.
Sierra Leone and neighbouring Liberia and Guinea are the three west African countries most affected by the epidemic.
They
account for 99% of the estimated 8 500 Ebola deaths from more than 21
000 cases reported since December 2013, according to the latest World
Health Organisation report.
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