Liberian health officials confirmed another two Ebola infections on Thursday, bringing to five the total number of new cases since the West African nation was declared free of the virus.

Francis Keteh, Deputy Incident Management System Leader, said in Mornovia that all the five Ebola patients were from Liberia’s north-central Margibi County.

He said that they include a 17-year-old boy whose death on June 28 made Liberia lose the Ebola-free status the World Health Organisation (WHO) had granted it in early May.

Keteh said that an additional seven suspected cases, 11 high risk cases and 42 low risk cases – who had all come into contact with the 17-year-old while he was ill – are currently being monitored at a treatment centre.

Neighbouring Guinea and Sierra Leone have not yet been able to stop transmissions of the virus that causes a deadly haemorrhagic fever.
According to the WHO, about 27,600 people have been infected and more than 11,200 have died from Ebola in the three West African countries since December 2013.