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Sierra Leone confirms second case of Ebola in a week

A health worker in Sierra Leone is helped into protective clothing at a treatment centre as the epidemic hit in 2014. Credit: Reuters

Sierra Leone has confirmed a new case of Ebola, its second in less than a week, marking a setback in efforts to end a two-year epidemic that has killed more than 11,300 people in West Africa.

Health ministry spokesman Sidi Yahyah Tunis described the new patient as a 38-year-old woman, a relative who had helped care for the earlier victim Mariatu Jalloh.

Jalloh died from the disease on January 12, and tested positive for Ebola posthumously.

In November, Sierra Leone was declared Ebola free after 42 days with no cases.