Sierra Leone is one step closer to being Ebola-free after health authorities released the country’s last patient known to be infected by the disease.
The west African nation will now begin a 42-day countdown to being declared Ebola-free, providing no other cases emerge.
Adama Sankoh, 40, contracted Ebola, which has killed 4,000 people in Sierra Leone, from her son who died from it late last month.
Upon being cleared of the disease she said: ‘Although my child died of Ebola I am very happy that I have survived today.’
President Ernest Bai Koroma, who presented Ms Sankoh with a certificate upon her release from hospital, said: ‘The Ebola fight is not yet over – go and tell members of your community that.’
If Sierra Leone is declared free from Ebola the only country remaining that still carries a threat of the disease will be Guinea.
Even if Sierra Leone manages to reach the 42-day mark without any cases and is declared ‘Ebola-free’ by the World Health Organisation, the threat will still remain.
Neighbouring Liberia was declared free of the disease in May only to experience another minor outbreak a few weeks later.
Since the outbreak in 2013 11,200 people are thought to have died from the disease.
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