Liberia releases last Ebola patient

Liberia released its last Ebola patient, a 58-year-old English teacher, from a treatment center in the capital on Thursday, beginning its countdown to being declared Ebola free.

"I am one of the happiest human beings today on earth because it was not easy going through this situation and coming out alive," Beatrice Yardolo told the Associated Press after her release.

Yardolo said she had been admitted to the Chinese-run Ebola treatment center in the Paynesville district of Monrovia on February 18.

Her release came as the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that Liberia had gone a week without reporting any new cases of Ebola — for the first time since last May.

Since the outbreak began in December 2013, 23,969 people in nine countries have been infected with the virus, and 9,807 of them have died, according to the latest figures.

Of those, 9,249 cases, including 4,117 deaths, were in Liberia, which six months ago was reporting more than 300 new cases per week.

At the height of the epidemic in a country whose health infrastructure had been ravaged by two civil wars, overflowing health clinics had to turn away people, often to die on the streets.

But a huge national response helped stem the spread. International agencies have also contributed with technical expertise, equipment, and medical personnel.

Of 45 samples tested nationwide last week, none were positive, WHO said, adding that it was first time there had been no new confirmed cases since May 26, 2014.

The outlook was less positive in Guinea and Sierra Leone, the other west African countries affected by the outbreak, which jointly reported 132 new confirmed cases last week.

Wire services