New cases in Mali, unrelated to the initial Ebola case in the country, have been reported in the capital city of Bamako, according to a report from the World Health Organization.
Four Ebola patients were reported in Mali as of Nov. 11; all have died. The new outbreak started on Nov. 10 with a nurse who treated an imam who traveled to Mali from Guinea and died of undiagnosed kidney failure, a common symptom of Ebola. The nurse was isolated and Ebola was confirmed, but the nurse died the next day. A friend of the imam who visited him in Bamako also died suddenly, and is suspected to have had Ebola, the WHO said.
There were over 14,000 reported cases of Ebola in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia as of Nov. 9, with nearly half in Liberia, which has reported more than 6,800 cases and over 2,800 deaths. The reported decline in cases in Liberia has stabilized, and a reversal is possible, according to the WHO report. Guinea has reported nearly 1,900 cases and more than 1,110 deaths; and Sierra Leone has reported over 5,350 cases and more than 1,150 deaths.
In the United States and Spain, all potential Ebola contacts have completed a 21 day follow-up; both countries should be declared Ebola-free by the end of November. While contacts in the United States have completed the follow-up, health care workers who contracted Ebola in West Africa and were moved to the U.S. continue to be treated, according to the WHO.
