The White House congratulated the Republic of Liberia Saturday after the World Health Organization declared that the country was free of the Ebola virus.
There have been no new cases of Ebola in 42 days, twice as long as the maximum incubation period for the disease, the WHO announced Saturday.
Liberia has seen 3,000 confirmed cases of Ebola and more than 7,000 suspected or probable cases since the outbreak started in March 2014, The New York Times reported. Obama, who said last year that the global response to the disease was too slow, had sent 3,000 American troops to Liberia to assist with efforts to combat the disease.
"We congratulate the people of Liberia on reaching this important marker, and once again pledge our commitment to ending the Ebola outbreak in West Africa and helping to rebuild Liberia and other affected nations," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said in a statement. "As President Obama said when Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf visited the White House last month, 'We're proud to partner with you and we intend to see this through until the job is done.'"
Earnest added that officials need to remain vigilant in combatting the disease in Sierra Leone and Guinea, two neighboring West African countries where the outbreak continues.
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