--- description: A patient died from Ebola earlier this week in Sierra Leone, tests confirmed, just hours after West Africa was declared free of the virus. title: Ebola Death Confirmed After West Africa Declared Virus Free image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc0bc60e26337f88e/69887943f887dc7e34e94295/gettyimages-491388432.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [ebola](/tag/ebola/) ## ebola Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Ebola Death Confirmed Hours After West Africa Declared Virus Free by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 15, 2016 9:46 AM CUT  A healthcare worker removes his protective equipment at an Ebola treatment center in Coyah, Guinea, on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2015 A healthcare worker removes his protective equipment at an Ebola treatment center in Coyah, Guinea, on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2015Waldo Swiegers—Bloomberg/Getty Images by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 15, 2016 9:46 AM CUT A patient [died](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-35320363 "undefined") from Ebola earlier this week in Sierra Leone, tests confirmed, just hours after the U.N.’s World Health Organization [declared](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-35320363 "undefined") West Africa free from the virus on Thursday. Sierra Leone was [confirmed](http://time.com/4119107/sierra-leone-ebola-celebrate/ "undefined") Ebola-free in November, but two tests on the recently deceased registered positive for the virus, Ebola test center spokesman Sidi Yahya Tunis told the BBC. Health officials are now trying to track the last movements of the patient, who died in the country’s Tonkolili district. Although the WHO’s Thursday declaration signaled the end to two-year epidemic that killed 11,000 people, the organization warned that small flare-ups of the disease might occur. \[[_BBC_](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-35320363 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4182155/ebola-virus-death-sierra-leone/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4182155/ebola-virus-death-sierra-leone/"},"headline":"Ebola Death Confirmed Hours After West Africa Declared Virus Free","datePublished":"2016-01-15T09:46:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T14:09:56.310Z","description":"The two-year epidemic has killed 11,000 people","url":"https://time.com/4182155/ebola-virus-death-sierra-leone/","keywords":["ebola","Death","Sierra Leone","health","Virus","WHO","West Africa"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc0bc60e26337f88e/69887943f887dc7e34e94295/gettyimages-491388432.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc0bc60e26337f88e/69887943f887dc7e34e94295/gettyimages-491388432.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"GettyImages-491388432","caption":"A healthcare worker removes his protective equipment at an Ebola treatment center in Coyah, Guinea, on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2015","creditText":"Waldo Swiegers—Bloomberg/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/ebola/","name":"ebola"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4182155/ebola-virus-death-sierra-leone/","name":"Ebola Death Confirmed Hours After West Africa Declared Virus Free"}}]}] ```