The Malian government confirmed its first case of Ebola in the country as a 2-year-old girl tested positive. The girl, who had just returned from the neighbouring Guinea, died in the late hours of Friday, October 24, 2014.
According to Reuters, the girl’s mother died in Guinea a few weeks ago and the child was then brought by relatives to Mali.
Mali’s health minister, Ousmane Kone, said that the infected girl was being treated in the western town of Kayes before her demise. She was brought to a local hospital on Wednesday, October 22, 2014 and her blood sample tested positive for,Ebola.
Mali makes the sixth West African country to be affected by the deadly Ebola outbreak.
Reports from WHO however reveals that the girls has started showing the symptoms after the death of her mother before her grandmother brought her to Mali from Guinea
A health agent from U.N. who pleaded anonymity assures that the agency is treating the case of Mali as a top priority and would do all it takes to keep the spread under control;
“The child’s symptomatic state during the bus journey is especially concerning, as it presented multiple opportunities for exposures – including high-risk exposures – involving many people,which we are working to keep under control,” he said.
The health official added that authorities had estimated at least 300 people who had been in contact with the infected child and have been kept under close surveillance.
