West Africa still on alert as new cases emerge after "Ebola-free"

A death from Ebola was confirmed Friday in Sierra Leone hours after the World Health Organization declared an end to the deadly virus in West Africa.

Tests on the body of a 22-year-old female student proved positive for Ebola, said spokesman for Health Ministry, Abdulai Baraytay.

The girl was infected by the disease in Kambia district close to the border with Guinea. She was taken to hospital but later died.

However, Langoba Keili, an official with the Office of National Security, told Xinhua there was "no need for alarm".

The Emergency Operation Center is on the ground, preparedness measures are in place and there are enough resources to contain any re-surgence of the disease, Keli said.

"Immediately family members have been isolated for proper screening," he said.

All the isolation and treatment centers are in place and "we did not stand anything down," he added.

The Ebola outbreak was pronounced over when Liberia was declared Ebola-free on Thursday.

Sierra Leone and Guinea were declared Ebola-free on Nov. 7 and Dec. 29, 2015 respectively.

It is not the first time the infection has re-emerged in a country declared free of Ebola.

Liberia was declared Ebola-free in May and September last year but twice recorded new cases.

On Thursday, the officer in charge of Ebola response in Sierra Leone, Foday Daffae, told Xinhua measures were put in place to contain "any (new) outbreak of Ebola".

He said the Health Ministry had set up a division for disease prevention and control, adding "all key staff that were utilized during the Ebola surge are on standby."

"The disease ends, but it doesn't mean Ebola virus ends," said Wang Yaoping, the head of the Chinese medical team in Sierra Leone.

Wang called on the government to establish public health system and train more professional medical personnel.

As of November 2014, China had offered aid worth 750 million yuan (about 113.77 million U.S. dollars) and sent thousands of medical personnel to Ebola-hit countries.

Ebola has killed more than 11,000 people mostly in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia since December 2013.

A country is declared Ebola-free if 42 days have passed without a new case since the last known case was tested negative.