A new Ebola case was confirmed in Liberia after the country had been declared the first West African nation to be free of the virus in early May, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday, according to dpa. The infection was detected in a deceased person who was buried in a way that prevents further infections, WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said. The case showed that Liberia's surveillance system is working and that even dead people were being tested, he said. If there are no further cases, it will take another 42 days to declare Liberia free of Ebola again. Neighbouring Guinea and Sierra Leone have not yet been able to stop transmissions of the virus that causes the deadly haemorrhagic fever. According to the WHO, more than 27,000 people have been infected and more than 11,000 have died from Ebola in the three West African countries since December 2013.
