'Ebola-free' Liberia warned against complacency

SATURDAY 09 MAY 2015
After 42 days without a new case, the west African state of Liberia, the country worst hit by the latest Ebola outbreak, is declared free of the disease by medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres.

Matt Frei talks to Mariateresa Cacciapuoti, head of mission in Liberia for Medecins Sans Frontiers

But MSF urged vigilance until the worst-ever recorded outbreak was extinguished in neighbouringGuinea and Sierra Leone.

A total of 11,005 people have died from Ebola in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone since the outbreak began in December 2013, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Nearly half of those deaths have been in Liberia, where the outbreak peaked between August and October 2014 with hundreds of cases a week, sparking international alarm. The US sent in hundreds of troops to help build treatment clinics in a country founded by freed US slaves.

Helped by the US military presence, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's government launched a national awareness campaign to stem the infectious disease, which is spread by physical contact with sick people.