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200 People in Sieera Leone to be vaccinated

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The World Health Organization (W.H.O.) will begin to vaccinate around 200 people in Sierra Leone who came into direct or indirect contact with the 67-year old woman who died of Ebola last week, Time reports.

"We will vaccinate those ... who came into direct contact with the deceased and those contacts they also came into close contact with," said W.H.O. spokesperson Margaret Harris.

"We have to ensure that everybody is fully informed and consents." 

The woman from the Kambia district near the border with Guinea died 5 days after the country discharged its last known Ebola patient from hospital. Her death has set back the efforts of the country that began a 42-day countdown to being declared Ebola-free, with the last reported case of Ebola being on Aug. 8.

The head of the National Ebola Response Center in Sierra Leone, Pallo Conteh, said that the fresh case was a setback and it has increased the likelihood of more cases of Ebola being recorded in Sierra Leona.

He also appealed the niece of the deceased woman to come forward as she was at high risk of contacting the disease. Experts are still trying to find out the source of the transmission.

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