Ebola back in Ivory Coast after 25 years

The Ebola virus has resurfaced in Ivory Coast for the first time in 25 years, the World Health Organization (WHO) and Health Minister Pierre Dimba of the West African country confirm it. According to Dimba, this would be an isolated case and involves an 18-year-old girl who entered the country from neighboring Guinea.

According to the WHO, the confirmation came after samples were previously collected from a patient admitted to the hospital in the commercial capital, Abidjan, the World Health Organization said in a statement. The woman was traveling to Côte d’Ivoire from Guinea by road and arrived in Abidjan on August 12. She was admitted with a fever and is currently receiving treatment.

Guinea, which had the deadliest Ebola outbreak ever between 2014-2016 with over 11,000 deaths, experienced a four-month outbreak earlier this year.

There were 16 infections and 12 deaths. The outbreak was under control after four months by vaccinating nearly 11,000 people against the disease and taking other measures.

Earlier this week, the first case of the Marburg virus in West Africa was also identified in that country. This is a highly contagious disease similar to Ebola.

The WHO said there is no indication that the current infection is linked to the outbreak earlier this year in Guinea, although further investigation should shed more light on that.

“It is of enormous concern that this outbreak has been identified in Abidjan, a metropolis of more than four million people,” WHO regional director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti said in the statement.