Geneva, November 9 (RHC)-- Sierra Leone has successfully overcome the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus, which ravaged the African country for a year and a half, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The WHO said over the weekend that no case of infection from Ebola has been reported over the past 42 days since the last patient was discharged on September 25th after two consecutive negative test results.

Anders Nordstrom, the Sierra Leone representative for the WHO, declared the end of the outbreak of the disease in the capital, Freetown, as hundreds of people cheered on the streets.

The incubation period for the Ebola is 21 days and the WHO declares a country free from the virus if no case of the infection is reported in two successive periods. The neighboring Liberia reached the target in September while Sierra Leone failed once in its 42-day countdown as a new case was reported in the meantime.

The outbreak of Ebola in Sierra Leone began in late 2013. It killed nearly 4,000 people. Guinea, Sierra Leone’s other neighbor and the country where Ebola first appeared, is the only remaining place struggling to get rid of the virus.