“The whole Village was quarantined when he was diagnosed, we never knew he had ebola but we thank God we have survived it and returning back to our people”, said a farmer who was discharged on Wednesday 19 August said.

According to BBC, the 35-year-old patient, Adama Sankoh, was released Monday morning from a northern Bombali district treatment center.

Almost 4,000 people have died of Ebola in Sierra Leone since the virus was first detected in May 2014.

Steve Gaoijia Coordinator at the National Ebola Response Centre (NERC) said the discharge of the last ebola patient was an indication of how far the country had come in a coordinated effort from community level to worldwide level support to fight a common enemy.

President Ernest Bai Koroma hailed “the beginning of the end of Ebola in Sierra Leone” as Adama Sankoh, 34, was released from hospital in Makeni, the country’s third-largest city, in a festive ceremony.

“‘Ebola nor don don” (Ebola is not yet finished), the President told Madame Sankou as he handed her a certificate confirming that she was now negative for Ebola virus.

Nancy Writebol, who past year became the second American infected with Ebola, said she suffers joint pain, mostly in her knees.

Liberia was declared Ebola-free in May, but six new cases cropped up a month later, all of whom have now been cleared.

OB Sisay, Director of the situation room of NERC, said: “We might have hidden cases, so we have to continue to be vigilant, continue our surveillance, maintain our discipline of hand-washing and temperature checks, screening and avoid over-crowding”.

At the height of the epidemic, dozens of centres opened in Sierra Leone where Ebola patients could be isolated and treated. But with such small numbers, past outbreaks haven’t provided sufficient opportunities for extensive study, Bausch said. The 42-day period begins on Tuesday, 25 August.

“This is a very important step towards ending the epidemic here in Sierra Leone”, Andres Nordstrom, who heads the country’s WHO operations, tells NPR.

Even then, officials know there is a risk of the disease re-emerging, either from neighbouring Guinea, which is not yet Ebola-free, or from within the population. The President of Sierra Leone was at the celebrations, as was Vanessa Wolfman, the local worldwide Medical Corps’ Emergency Medical Director.