Story highlights New patient is an aunt of a woman who died of Ebola in Sierra Leone last week

World Health Organization had declared an end to two-year Ebola outbreak in West Africa

The outbreak killed about 11,300 people and infected 28,600 others

(CNN) A second case of the deadly Ebola virus has been reported in the West African nation of Sierra Leone in as many weeks -- just seven days after health officials declared a major epidemic in the region had ended.

The two cases are connected. The latest patient -- a woman being treated in the capital, Freetown -- is an aunt of a 22-year-old woman who died of Ebola last week in Sierra Leone, World Health Organization spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said Thursday.

The aunt, who had cared for her sick niece, tested positive for the virus after developing symptoms while in quarantine Wednesday, Jasarevic said.

The latest cases have links to the neighboring country of Guinea, where the 22-year-old first became sick, the WHO has said.

On January 14, the organization declared an end to the Ebola outbreak that killed about 11,300 people and infected 28,600 others, mostly in the West African countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Read More