Liberia Plans To declare their country Free From Ebola

Liberia has had about 4,716 deaths due to the outbreak of Ebola Last year. Liberia was the  hardest hit of the West Africa nations afflicted by a disease that first surfaced in December 2013. Now the country  plans to declare their country  free from Ebola on Saturday barring the unexpected discovery of a new case before then.

According to the World Health Organization, the last confirmed Ebola patient in Liberia died March 27 and was immediately buried the next day.

"I'm sure that the sound of 4 million Liberians exhaling will be the sigh heard around the world," says Sheldon Yett, who led the United Nation's Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Liberia during the crisis.

 After 42 days of the last case of Ebola, The Liberian officials are ready to say the deadly virus is completely  eradicated within its borders......

Tolbert Nyeswah, who led Liberia's response to the disease, said Thursday that finally ridding the country of Ebola was vindication for leadership that had taken such a beating during the darkest hours of the epidemic. "Today, the same people (critics) are using us as a success story," Nyeswah said.
A national ceremony is planned for Monday. Even though the deadly virus lingers in nearby Guinea and Sierra Leone, and officials still worry about cross-border transmission.

Francis Kateh, a deputy incident manager for the Liberian response team told USA TODAY that it is imperative the nation remain vigilant. "When your neighbor's house is on fire, you have to be careful," Kateh said. "So we are not totally celebrating because Sierra Leone and Guinea are still fighting the virus."

Reintroduction of the virus can be all too easy, UNICEF's Yett said. "All you need is a canoe to cross a river or a jungle path to bring in another case into Liberia," he said.


With Liberia's long, historical link to the United States — it was founded by former American slaves — the outbreak led President Obama last fall to order nearly 3,000 U.S. troops into the country to build temporary treatment clinics and train staff.
Liberian officials said the sight of American troops lifted hopes in the stricken nation. But it remains unclear how much impact the nearly $1 billion deployment had on defeating the disease. The troops began pulling out in February.


"The lesson learned is that whenever there is a disaster, donors and various countries should have contract-flexibility clauses ... to redirect efforts to things that are necessary," Kateh said.

Now all we can hope for is that Ebola be completely gone in Sierra Leona and Guinea