Freetown, Jan 13 (IANS): Pujehun district in the southern region of Sierra Leone has gone without a single case of the Ebola virus disease for 44 days, the chairman of the district council said Monday.

Sadiq Siilah said this while addressing stakeholders from the district called to assess the situation since the last case of the disease was reported there, Xinhua news agency reported.

He attributed the success so far to the vigilance of the security agencies, which include the police and the military who provided security for the holding centres, quarantine homes, checkpoints as well as the border post with neighbouring Liberia.

He stated that with the outbreak of the virus in Kailahun district in the east, the council started to take strenuous measures by banning trade fairs, mounting checkpoints and forming district task forces to supervise the entire programme.

Records show that since the outbreak in the district Aug 8 last year, there had been a total of 31 confirmed Ebola cases and the last case was reported Nov 26. "Since then we have been recording zero cases," said Siilah.

Minister of Local Government Diana Konomany-Kabba said efforts should be made to sustain the zero rate.

She advised against complacency, calling for continued stringent measures, especially at border entries with Liberia.

Meanwhile, according to updates from the ministry of health, of the 14 political districts in Sierra Leone, only six districts have been recording Ebola cases, including the capital, Freetown. The other eight have recorded no case for about two weeks now.