High fever and internal bleeding – these are usually the consequences of the life-threatening Ebola disease. Now the World Health Organization reports a case from a West African country.
Abidjan – In the West African state of Ivory Coast, the first case of life-threatening Ebola disease has been recorded in more than a quarter of a century. The World Health Organization reported this on Twitter.
The patient entered the country from Guinea by land and arrived in the economic metropolis of Abidjan on August 12. The person concerned was taken to a hospital with a fever and is being treated there. This is the first Ebola case in Ivory Coast since 1994. An Ebola infection usually leads to a high fever and internal bleeding.
An #Ebola case has been confirmed today in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire🇨🇮. Initial investigations found that the patient had travelled to #CotedIvoire from Guinea by land & arrived in Abidjan on 12 August. This is the country’s first case of Ebola since 1994. https://t.co/RnkHct1Wqn
— WHO African Region (@WHOAFRO) August 14, 2021
The WHO further tweeted that there was no evidence that this case was linked to a previous outbreak in neighboring Guinea. On June 19, Guinea announced that it was Ebola-free. According to the WHO, a total of twelve people have demonstrably died of the Ebola virus here since February 14. Containing the outbreak was made more difficult by the simultaneous fight against the coronavirus.
WHO Regional Director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti tweeted that the Ivory Coast government is being supported. A team of WHO experts will be arriving shortly to help with contact tracking and treatment.
In an outbreak in West Africa between 2014 and 2016, 28,000 people were infected in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone and more than 11,000 died. In the east of the Congo, an outbreak with around 2,300 deaths was declared over in June 2020 after almost two years. The Ivory Coast, with around 25 million inhabitants, was a French colony until 1960. dpa
