Ebola News: Ivory Coast Reports First Case Since 1994

Ivory Coast (Cote d'Ivoire) has logged its first case of Ebola since 1994. The country is now "in full response mode."

The "isolated" case is of an 18-year-old girl who traveled from neighboring Guinea, Health Minister Pierre Dimba said on national television, Reuters reported.

According to Africa Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the patient traveled from Labe in Guinea to the capital city Abidjan by road on Aug. 11 and was admitted to a hospital with a "high-grade" fever on Aug. 12. By Aug. 14, the Institute Pasteur in Cote d'Ivoire confirmed the Ebola Virus Disease using samples collected from the patient. She is now in isolation and receiving treatment.

"[I]t is the first time an outbreak has occurred in a large capital city such as Abidjan since the 2014–2016 West Ebola outbreak," World Health Organization (WHO) Africa said in a statement.

This comes just a few months after Guinea reported the end of a four-month Ebola outbreak in June and just about a week after it confirmed a case of Marburg disease, which is a lethal virus that's related to Ebola.

That said, WHO noted there is "no indication" that the case in Ivory Coast is related to an outbreak in Guinea. However, it is expected that "further investigation and genomic sequencing" will help determine the virus' strain and shed light on a possible connection.

"It is of immense concern that this outbreak has been declared in Abidjan, a metropolis of more than 4 million people," Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, said in the WHO statement. "However, much of the world's expertise in tackling Ebola is here on the continent and Cote d'Ivoire can tap into this experience and bring the response to full speed. The country is one of the six that WHO has supported recently to beef up their Ebola readiness and this quick diagnosis shows preparedness is paying off."

Ivory Coast is now "in full response mode," Dr. Moeti said on Twitter. Health Minister Dimba also noted that authorities have already activated emergency measures, Deutsche Welle said in a report.

Part of the "cross-border" efforts include the transferring of 5,000 Ebola vaccine doses from Guinea to the Ivory Coast to be given to "high risk" people such as first responders, health workers and the contacts of the confirmed cases. Investigations are also ongoing and a "multidisciplinary" team of experts will "cover all key areas" of the response. Possible contacts of the patient are also being identified and monitored.

"While countries are focused on the COVID-19 response, they should strengthen their preparedness for potential Ebola cases," WHO Africa noted.