Ebola Outbreak 2015 News Update: Virus Back? Teen Confirmed to Have Died of Ebola

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Jul 01, 2015 07:50 AM EDT

In less than 2 months since Liberia announced its Ebola-free status, a teenager was reported to have died from the disease.

A corpse has tested positive for Ebola, Liberian authorities confirmed Tuesday. The body belongs to a 17-year-old boy and authorities are now finding people who may have interacted or have come in contact with the latest victim, according to CBC News.

The latest case comes barely 2 months after the country was declared Ebola-free on May 9. In the general vicinity of West Africa, Liberia was considered to be the heart of the epidemic, where the virus killed more than 11,000 people since December 2013. The outbreak also affected Guinea and Sierra Leone heavily.

"There is no need to panic. The corpse has been buried and our contact tracing has started work," Deputy Health Minister Tolbert Nyenswah said on Tuesday, the Huffington Post noted.

According to the LA Times, the confirmed case was discovered in Margibi County, a rural area housing the country's main international airport, nearby the capital Monrovia. Two homes have now been placed under quarantine.

"This should have been expected because as long as there is Ebola in the region no one country can be safe. Liberia is vulnerable because of Guinea and Sierra Leone," said UN Ebola response mission spokeswoman Fatoumata Lejeune-Kaba.

A spokesperson for the ministry of health wrote in an email that it is unknown how or where the teen victim caught the virus -- there is no information or record of him traveling to Guinea or Sierra Leone, Science Mag reported.

Fatoumata Lejeune-Kaba is convinced that the new incident will test how Liberia will deal with the news and virus, with little to no assistance from international health organizations. Liberia fought the virus by adopting safety measures such as proper burial of infected bodies and regular hand-washing practices.

"The good thing is this [infection] occurred in a rural village and appears to have been diagnosed rather promptly and appropriate public health responses were put into place," said Dr. William Schaffner, infectious disease expert from Vanderbilt University Medical School, ABC News noted.

Liberian Health Minister Dr. Bernice Dhan, however, was somehow relieved because the incident demonstrated that the country's alert systems are functional.

"The structures we have in place to strengthen our surveillance systems in Liberia allowed us to respond quickly. It is critical that the Liberian people remain vigilant and continue all prevention measures to stop the spread of Ebola," Dr. Dhan said via ABC.

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