Liberia said Wednesday a teenager who died of Ebola fever had spread the virus to at least two more people, confirming the first outbreak of the tropical disease for months.

Liberia said Wednesday a teenager who died of Ebola fever had spread the virus to at least two more people, confirming the first outbreak of the tropical disease for months.

Health official Cestus Tarpeh told AFP the infected pair had been in physical contact with the 17-year-old Ebola victim before his death in a village near the country's international airport, around an hour's drive southeast of Monrovia.

"We are still waiting for more results of blood tests," said Tarpeh, spokesman for the health department in Margibi County.

He added that a herbalist who had treated the boy had evaded the authorities and was on the run.

The news came a day after Health Minister Bernice Dahn announced the first case of Ebola in Liberia for around three months, warning that it was "likely that we will find additional cases".

The new outbreak comes with the country still reeling from a nightmarish epidemic which wrecked its health service and economy and left 4,800 Liberians dead.

Before the new cases Liberia had reported its last victim on March 20 and was declared Ebola-free by the World Health Organization on May 9.

Local media reported that the 17-year-old had fallen ill on June 21 and died three days later, although this has not been confirmed by the government.

There were no immediate details either on the two new cases, as epidemiologists scrambled Wednesday to trace and quarantine anyone else who may have had contact with the teenager.