Ebola case reported in Ivory Coast after Guinea outbreak

Well being officers mentioned it was not instantly identified whether or not the case was linked to an outbreak earlier this yr in neighboring Guinea, which had been declared over in mid-June.

The affected person now present process therapy in Abidjan had arrived Thursday by bus from Guinea, elevating fears that others might have turn into contaminated in the course of the journey.

Ebola is transmitted by coming into contact with the bodily fluids of an contaminated individual or contaminated supplies. Nevertheless, the early signs of fever and muscle aches resembles different widespread illnesses within the area like malaria.

“Additional investigation and genomic sequencing will establish the pressure and decide if there’s a connection between the 2 outbreaks,” WHO mentioned in a press release Saturday.

The brand new case additionally marks the primary time for the reason that 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic that an outbreak has erupted in a metropolis as giant as Abidjan.

“It’s of immense concern that this outbreak has been declared in Abidjan, a

of greater than 4 million folks,” mentioned Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO’s regional director for Africa. “Nevertheless, a lot of the world’s experience in tackling Ebola is right here on the continent and Cote d’Ivoire can faucet into this expertise and produce the response to full pace.”

The 2014-2016 epidemic, which started in rural Guinea, ultimately unfold to the capitals of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. Greater than 11,325 folks died in what turned the most important Ebola outbreak in historical past.

Within the years since, two vaccines and new remedies have been developed to deal with the hemorrhagic fever that when killed greater than half its victims. These instruments had been used to assist finish outbreaks in Congo and one other detected in Guinea earlier this yr.

Nevertheless, researchers have mentioned there’s proof the Ebola virus can lurk within the physique lengthy after signs finish. Researchers have mentioned the 2021 outbreak that killed a dozen folks might have been sparked by a survivor of the 2014-2016 epidemic.

Scientists have beforehand documented Ebola survivors who inadvertently contaminated others lengthy after that they had recovered, however such uncommon circumstances haven’t prompted outbreaks. In 2018, docs printed a examine a few Liberian girl who most likely caught Ebola in 2014 however then contaminated three relations a few yr later.

Well being officers have additionally warned that males can typically infect others through intercourse lengthy after they appear to have recovered – the virus can persist in semen for greater than a yr.

It was not instantly clear whether or not anybody else had fallen sick with Ebola in Guinea, the place the affected person in Ivory Coast had traveled from.

Guinea can also be making an attempt to include a uncommon outbreak of Marburg virus, one other hemorrhagic fever illness that belongs to the identical household as Ebola.