UN opens Ebola office in Mali as two new cases emerge

BAMAKO, Mali – The UN emergency mission to fight Ebola opened an office in Mali on Wednesday, November 26, where nearly 300 people are being monitored and two new cases have emerged.

The office of the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) is headed by Dr Ibrahima Soce Fall, the World Health Organization country representative in Mali.

Seven people have died in the west African nation. The first fatality was a two-year-old girl, who was brought from neighbouring Guinea to stay with relatives.

Three days after the girl died, an Islamic cleric, also from Guinea, perished in the capital Bamako, transmitting the virus, directly or indirectly, to at least five people, all of whom have now also died.

Mali’s health ministry said on Wednesday that two new cases had surfaced: the 23-year-old fiancee of a nurse who attended to the deceased imam and himself died of Ebola on November 11.

“The second new case is part of a family of previously confirmed and deceased patients. The 27-year-old man lost his mother and half-brother to Ebola,” a WHO statement said.

“The identification of patient contacts for daily monitoring has reportedly reached 99 percent. Based on experiences in Senegal and Nigeria, this achievement could augur well for rapid containment of Mali’s outbreak,” it said.

Ebola has killed nearly 5,500 people and infected 15,351, mainly in west Africa, according to the latest figures from the World Health Organization. – Rappler.com