Last Ebola patient in Sierra Leone released: official

The last Ebola patient in Sierra Leone has been released, authorities said Wednesday.

Dr. Foday Daffae, director of Disease Prevention and Control in the Ministry of Health, confirmed to Xinhua in a telephone interview that the patient was released over the weekend.

Daffae said the patient contracted the disease from her relative, a 22-year-old student who died of the Ebola virus in Magburaka, Tonkolili district of the northern province on Jan. 12.

The death of the student, Mariatu Jalloh, which came two months after the WHO declared the country "Ebola free", shocked the whole country as Sierra Leoneans had breathed a sigh of relief.

A local reporter also told Xinhua that the patient, named Memunatu, arrived in her hometown of Magburaka Wednesday.

Daffae said the discharge of Memunatu "means the country has started a 42-day countdown, and if there is no resurgence of disease, the country will be declared Ebola free again".

According to health authorities, dozens of relatives who were in touch with the dead student are still missing, and the ministry is urging them to come forward declaring that "no punitive action will be taken against them".

Early this month, 55 Ebola quarantined people were released from isolation facilities in the country's north after being certified as negative of the Ebola virus. Enditem