the second case in this outbreak was a nurse at the clinic. liberia on november 13, liberia ends its state of emergency. united states on november 15 dr. martin salia, a surgeon working in sierra leone, is medically evacuated to the nebraska medical center, the third evd case to be treated there and the most critical. mali also on november 15 mali has identified and is monitoring 256 contacts (out of as many of 343) of its second batch of evd cases. united states on november 17 dr. martin salia dies at the nebraska medical center. germany on november 22, germany sends 400 specially adapted motorbikes to remote west africa regions. the bikes are to be used for sample transport in areas that do not have a local testing laboratory. december 2014 sierra leone in early december, sierra leone falls behind in efforts to remove and bury the dead, with some workers dumping bodies in the streets to protest not being paid. bodies are buried without being tested, and less than one in five dead may end up being reported to the who as an ebola casualty. united states on december 10, an american nurse exposed to ebola while volunteering in sierra leone will be admitted to the national institutes of health mark o. hatfield clinical research center for observation and to enroll in a clinical protocol on thursday, december 4. united states also on december 10, time magazine names the ebola fighters its person of the year. sierra leone on december 12, it is announced that public christmas and new year's celebrations are banned. 1,319 new infections have been recorded in the last three weeks. guinea-bissau on december 12, shortly after reopening its border (closed since august) with guinea, a man with a fever was apprehended and quarantined after evading a checkpoint, along with eight other travelers he had joined. (as of eleven days later, on december 23, his name, location and condition remain unknown.) on december 17, confirmed cases top 19,000. on december 22, confirmed deaths exceeded 7,500. philippines on december 23, two returning ofws from west africa evaded quarantine requirements. taking ill, they were rejected at one hospital and sent to another. (as of a week later, on december 29, their names, locations and condition remain unknown.) united states on december 24, 2014, a cdc technician in atlanta was potentially exposed to ebola due to a laboratory error, and has been placed into quarantine. united kingdom on 29 december, pauline cafferkey, a healthcare worker returning from west africa to scotland, was diagnosed with ebola. she was taken to a specialist treatment centre in london the next day. on december 29, confirmed cases exceeded 20,000 and confirmed deaths exceeded 7,800. iraq on december 31, unnamed health officials in mosul hospital allegedly maintained that ebola had stricken "da'ish gunmen" (isis jihad fighters) of african origin. the reports are not independently confirmed. january 2015 on january 3, confirmed deaths reach 8,000. institut pasteur on january 4, isis propaganda claimed several deaths due to ebola in mosul. the next day, the ministry of health of iraq and who officials debunked the report as untrue. on january 8, confirmed cases reach 21,000. mali on january 18, mali is officially ebola-free. on january 21, guinea, sierra leone, liberia all reported the lowest weekly infection rates since august 2014. guinea had re-opened its schools and universities. on january 22, sierra leone has cancelled all internal quarantines citing a sharp drop of the ebola transmission. on january 24, liberia has reported just 5 confirmed and 21 suspected ebola cases across the country, indicating a likely termination of the virus transmission. on january 27, confirmed cases exceed 22,000 and deaths 8,800. on january 30, in france dr. anavaj sakuntabhai from the pasteur institute has reported several asymptomatic ebola cases, indicating a possible mutation which may enable transmission by carriers without outward signs of the disease. february–november 2015 on february 3, confirmed cases topped 22,500 and deaths reached 9,000. on february 16, confirmed cases exceeded 23,000 and deaths were over 9,300. on march 1, confirmed cases neared 24,000 while confirmed deaths exceeded 9,800. on march 5, liberia releases its last confirmed case. on march 11, cases topped 24,300 while deaths surpassed 10,000. on march 20, liberia records its first case of ebola in more than two weeks. on april 1, cases exceeded 25,000 while deaths neared 10,500. on may 1, cases were over 26,300 while deaths reached 10,900. the outbreak is nearly over in liberia (with no new cases in weeks), is averaging ten cases per week in sierra leone, and is still fully out of control in guinea with several score new cases per week. liberia on may 9, liberia is officially ebola-free. on november 10, in brazil a 46-year-old man coming from guinea was suspected of ebola and was hospitalized in belo horizonte, minas gerais. january 2016 on january 14, west africa was declared ebola-free, marking the official end of the epidemic.