Liberian Teenager Dies From Ebola 7 Weeks After Country Was Declared Free

Liberia's Deputy Health Minister, Tolbert Nyenswah has revealed today that a 17-year old  teenager has died of Ebola in the first recorded case 7-Weeks after the country at the heart of an epidemic was declared free of the virus on May 9.

The corpse was tested positive for Ebola virus in Margibi County, and has been buried as investigators from health ministry has started tracing the origin. "We have said over and over again there was possibility that there could be a resurgence of the virus in Liberia. But our surveillance teams, our capacity is very strong," Nyenswah said.

It was not known how the 17-year old contracted Ebola. The town where the teenager died is far from the borders with Sierra Leone and Guinea, so Nyenswah said they are investigating whether his case might be linked to travel as specimens taken from the corpse before burial has tested positive.

"The only complication is that the person died before we tested the body as part of our surveillance system of testing living and dead people. There is no need for pandemonium; people should go about their normal business," he said.

He called the Ebola testing of the young man's corpse "a success story for our surveillance system." The Ebola Incident Management System team will meet on Tuesday to look into the incident, he said.