First Ebola case in Mali sparks aid mission by World Health Organisation

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Two-year-old girl tests positive for the virus, making Mali the sixth west African country to report an outbreak
Ebola experimental vaccine
The first shipment of an experimental vaccine against Ebola is checked by World Health Organisation staff in Geneva. Clinical safety trials of the vaccine have begun in healthy volunteers in Mali and elsewhere. Photograph: Mathilde Missioneiro/EPA

The World Health Organisation is sending experts to help Mali fight Ebola, a day after the first case of the disease was confirmed there.

Authorities said on Thursday a two-year-old girl had been infected – making Mali the sixth west African country to report a case of Ebola. The child was brought to a hospital in the Malian town of Kayes on Wednesday, and her blood sample tested positive for the virus.

Nearly all cases of Ebola, and all deaths so far, have occurred in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. Senegal and Nigeria had imported cases, but both have since been declared Ebola-free.

WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib said a team of three experts had been in Mali evaluating its defences, and at least four more would set off over the next few days. The Malian authorities were monitoring 43 people who had been in contact with the girl, including 10 health workers, she told a news briefing.

European Union leaders agreed on Friday to double to €1bn their financial support for efforts to fight Ebola.

Contributions from the 28 nations currently stand at about €500m and there has been criticism that wealthy countries are not doing more.

According to the WHO, Ebola has killed at least 4,877 people and infected 9,936.