Not long ago, the World Health Organization announced that Ebola cases were seeing a 10 month low. Both Nigeria and Liberia had been declared Ebola-free, and Sierra Leone and Guinea had a total of 9 cases each. A lot of us moved on, assuming the worst was over.

Now, however, it seems the region has taken a step back. WHO just announced “Both the intensity and the geographical area of Ebola virus disease transmission have increased.” Specifically, in its latest report, there are now 31 confirmed cases- 15 in Sierra Leone and 16 in Guinea.

“This is the second consecutive weekly increase in case incidence, and the highest weekly total number of cases reported from Sierra Leone since late March,” it said.

I know what you’re thinking. 31 isn’t sooo many, is it really cause for panic?

Think of it this way- the current epidemic, which has claimed 11,147 people lives, began with one.

But what’s especially troubling, is the geographical area of transmission is not contained. In Guinea, for example, the virus has moved to the southern region of the country for the first time. Because the people here have not seen with their own eyes the devastation caused by the virus, many of them are expressing the same fear and denial that was experienced by others earlier in the epidemic. WHO adds that several field staff have been attacked.

If people are unfamiliar with how the virus is transmitted, in denial about its existence, untrusting of health workers, and uneducated about what to do, things could escalate very quickly.

“It feels like we are back to square one. The world has moved on, but it is still a very real problem here. With Liberia Ebola free, we thought we were not far behind, but that isn’t the case,” said a spokesman from International Medical Corps. “Guinea is a problem and as long as Guinea has Ebola, Sierra Leone will continue to struggle. The border is meaningless, with families straddling both countries.”

I like to find the silver lining, so perhaps it’s this: while this news is certainly tragic, maybe it’s the wake up call we need. Clearly, we can’t sit idly by and expect the virus to disappear on its own. Yes, amazing progress has been made thanks to the dedication and bravery of medical professionals, NGOs, locals, etc, but as a global community our job isn’t done until we reach zero cases.

Hold up, I take it back. Our job isn’t even done then- if global citizens want to prevent future health crisis like this in the future, we can’t rest until we know strong health systems are in place in every region of the world. Then, our job is done.