MOSCOW, November 22 (Sputnik), Ekaterina Blinova — A new Ebola case has been confirmed in Mali and two more suspected cases detected, triggering fears over the further spread of the deadly disease that has already claimed six lives in the region.
"Mali has recorded a new case of Ebola in the capital Bamako after the friend of a nurse who died of the hemorrhagic fever earlier this month tested positive for the disease, health and medical officials said on Saturday," Reuters reported.
According to the news agency, the nurse caught the Ebola virus while caring for a 70-year old imam from Guinea, who later died from the deadly disease after being initially wrongly diagnosed with kidney problems. The tragic case provoked the spread of Ebola in Mali, resulting in the deaths of five. Two Malian health care officials told Reuters on condition of anonymity that there was a direct connection between the new Ebola case and the infected nurse.
"Of two suspected cases tested, one was negative and the other positive," the official statement released on Saturday, November 22, read. The new Ebola patient was placed "in an isolation center for intensive treatment," the government officials reports, adding that 310 people have been put under medical observation in order to limit the spread of the virus.
"The new cases in Mali remind us that no country in the region is immune to Ebola," warned Manuel Fontaine, UNICEF regional director for West and Central Africa, as quoted by the Associated Press.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stressed that the Mali outbreak was "a cause of deep concern."
In total 5,459 people have been killed by the Ebola virus according to the World Health Organization's statistics. All but 15 victims died in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
