Boy dies of disease in Liberia, first such fatality for months

Pulse Staff 08:53 - 24 November 2015

Health workers put on protective gear before entering a quarantine zone at a Red Cross facility in the town of Koidu, Kono district in Eastern Sierra Leone December 19, 2014. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

Nathan Gbotoe tested positive last week and died late on Monday in hospital in Paynesville near the capital, where his father and brother are also being treated for Ebola, said officials.

A 15-year-old boy has died of Ebola in Liberia, the first such fatality for months in a country declared free of the disease in September, chief medical officer Francis Kateh said on Tuesday.

Nathan Gbotoe tested positive last week and died late on Monday in hospital in Paynesville near the capital, where his father and brother are also being treated for Ebola, said officials.

The case represents a setback for Liberia, which has seen more than 10,600 cases and 4,808 Ebola deaths since it was first announced in March, 2014, according to U.N. World Health Organisation figures.