The World Health Organization has again declared Liberia Ebola-free, after 42 days without a laboratory-confirmed case of the deadly virus.
The WHO announced the news Thursday. The nation now goes into a 90-day period of what the WHO called "heightened surveillance" as health officials watch for any recurrence of the virus.
Liberia was originally declared Ebola-free on May 9. Halfway through the first heightened surveillance period, on June 29, the WHO said a new case of Ebola was confirmed in a 17-year-old male who had died of the virus a day earlier.
At least five additional cases were later identified, and of those, two people died.
The WHO said no health care workers were infected.
Ebola has killed more than 11,000 people in West Africa since the start of 2014, including more than 4,800 in Liberia. Authorities continue efforts to contain the disease in Guinea and Sierra Leone.
The WHO said in a statement that it commends the government of Liberia and its people for the successful response to the recent re-emergence.
Material for this report came from AFP.
