Cote D’ivoire’s health authorities have confirmed the country’s first Ebola outbreak in 25 years.
Gatekeepers News reports that an emailed statement from the World Health Organization late Saturday affirmed the outbreak.
The patient who arrived from Guinea by road on Thursday, August 12, was admitted to the hospital after experiencing a fever and is currently receiving treatment, the statement said.
“It is of immense concern that this outbreak has been declared in Abidjan, a metropolis of more than 4 million people,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, World Health Organization regional director for Africa. “However, much of the world’s expertise in tackling Ebola is here on the continent and Ivory Coast can tap into this experience and bring the response to full speed”.
The world’s top cocoa producer took heightened protective measures in February when neighboring Guinea declared an outbreak, which was declared over in June.
Guinea was the epicenter of the 2014-16 Ebola epidemic, which spread mainly to Liberia and Sierra Leone, infecting more than 45,000 people in West Africa and killing more than 11,000.
