NEW YORK (July 3, 2015) – Responding to Liberia’s first confirmed cases of Ebola in more than three months, UNICEF has begun distributing emergency supplies in the affected communities, including tents for isolating those under quarantine, hygiene kits, and chlorine and buckets for handwashing stations.

In Margibi County, where the body of a child tested positive for the virus on June 29, UNICEF social mobilization teams are already on the ground conducting door-to-door awareness campaigns on Ebola prevention to minimize the risk of further infections and to protect and assist those affected.

“There was always a risk that Ebola would return to Liberia. Now we have to put everything we have into getting back to zero cases,” said Sheldon Yett, UNICEF’s Representative in Liberia. “The speed of the response to these cases shows that no one has let their guard down.”

In the coming days, the school that the victim attended will be decontaminated, new hygiene stations will be put in place, and soap and chlorine distributed. Handwashing stations provided by UNICEF were positioned at the entrance of all schools in Liberia when they re-opened after a six-month closure in February. UNICEF has worked with local authorities to keep them in place following the declaration on May 9 that the country was free from Ebola transmission.

UNICEF is also working with the government to ensure measures such as the taking of students’ temperatures when they arrive are in place.

“Liberia would not have been declared Ebola free in May without the knowledge and initiative of communities,” said Yett. “Those communities are again at the forefront of reinvigorated efforts to ensure that there are no new cases of this disease here.”

In neighboring Guinea and Sierra Leone, new infections continue to be reported, though in much lower numbers than at the peak of the outbreak. In the week ending June 28, twelve new cases of Ebola were recorded in Guinea and eight in Sierra Leone.

Photos and b-roll from Ebola affected countries are available at: http://uni.cf/1xZAb39.

About UNICEFThe United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) works in more than 190 countries and territories to put children first. UNICEF has helped save more children’s lives than any other humanitarian organization, by providing health care and immunizations, clean water and sanitation, nutrition, education, emergency relief and more. The U.S. Fund for UNICEF supports UNICEF's work through fundraising, advocacy and education in the United States. Together, we are working toward the day when no children die from preventable causes and every child has a safe and healthy childhood. For more information, visit www.unicefusa.org.

For more information, contact: Susannah Masur, U.S. Fund for UNICEF, 212.880.9146, smasur@unicefusa.org