Liberia lifts ban on football matches as Ebola threat recedes

MONROVIA (Reuters) - The Liberian Football Association lifted a seven-month ban on football matches on Thursday, the latest in a series of public health measures to be relaxed as the West African nation turns a corner in its fight against Ebola.

Liberia banned all domestic and community matches last June to try to limit the spread of the highly contagious Ebola virus, which has killed more than 3,400 Liberians.

Transmission of the virus peaked in Liberia around September but has since slowed, and the government has begun to draw down the public health measures put in place to stop its spread. Schools will reopen in February.

In all, more than 8,200 people have died in the Ebola epidemic, most of them in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

Medical charity Medicins Sans Frontieres has warned against the dangers of complacency in countries affected by Ebola as the rate of transmission ebbs.

(Reporting by James Harding Giahyue; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg and Sam Wilkin)