WHO and Ministry of Health teams in Guinea and Liberia have established epidemiological links between new Ebola cases in Liberia and a current flare-up of Ebola in neighbouring Guinea following intensified case investigations and contact tracing.

Investigation teams in Guinea had been searching for the wife and three young children of a man who died of Ebola last month in the southern prefecture of Macenta. The family members were considered high-risk contacts. It is now believed that the wife travelled to Liberia with her children after her husband’s death to join relatives who live in the capital, Monrovia. It is there that she reportedly developed symptoms. She initially sought care in local clinics and died en route to a Monrovia hospital on 31 March. Two of her sons, a five-year old and a two-year old, have since tested positive for Ebola and are being treated at an Ebola care facility in Monrovia.

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