Côte d’Ivoire confirms new Ebola case — first time since 1994

The Republic of Côte d’Ivoire has recorded a case of the Ebola virus disease (EVD) in Abidjan, its capital city.

The last time the country recorded an Ebola outbreak was in 1994.

The index case is said to be an 18-year-old Guinean girl, who travelled from Labe in Guinea to Abidjan by road on August 11.

She was hospitalised after she came down with a “high-grade fever”.

The patient is undergoing treatment at a treatment centre for highly epidemic diseases, at the Treichville University Hospital.

Guinea, where Côte d’Ivoire’s index case originated, recorded an outbreak of Ebola in June.

John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said the agency is already in touch with the government of Cote d’Ivoire to offer “its expertise”.

“In this recent past outbreak in Guinea, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) assessed and supported neighbouring countries including Cote d’Ivoire in preparation for and response to potential spill over of cases,” Nkengasong said.

“We witnessed the experience, expertise and resources in place in these countries to handle such incidents.

“However, as this case is reported in a busy capital city of Abidjan, Africa CDC is already in contact with senior health officials of the country to assess the situation and offer its expertise.”

Côte d’Ivoire is also reportedly deploying “multi-sectoral emergency response measures” in limit the spread of the virus.