MONROVIA, Montserrado – Liberia’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Francis Kateh says the country has rigorous surveillance and response systems in place to deal with any potential outbreak of Ebola.

Kateh made the statements in an interview following the World Health Organization’s third declaration of Liberia as an Ebola-free country on Jan. 14.

According to him, systems were put in place since the initial outbreak of the virus, and the Health Ministry has been working to combat future outbreaks.

“The surveillance and response systems are something health authorities have been working on since the outbreak of the virus in the country, and it is working out well for us,” Kateh noted.

Kateh made a specific reference to the second outbreak of the virus in Margibi County where a 17-year-old student tested positive for the disease and died. He said authorities carried out surveillance and from the samples collected, they knew they were dealing with Ebola.

“Whenever there is an outbreak of the virus, there is a team that is immediately dispatched to the area [to] isolate and collect specimens and if it is confirmed to be a possible case, [contact tracing] and other services are done to contain such outbreak,” Kateh said.

However, he stressed that health authorities needed to put in more time and training to make sure that the fifteen counties can respond effectively and efficiently to any outbreak.

At a formal ceremony held at the Ministry of Health complex in Congo Town, the WHO’s Representative to Liberia Alex Gasasira commended the government, communities, health workers and partners on the successful response to the latest outbreak of Ebola.

Featured photo by Zeze Ballah