BAMAKO (Reuters) – A doctor in Mali who treated the patient that sparked a second wave of Ebola in the West African nation has died, the government announced on Thursday.
Oussa Koita, a 70-year-old imam from neighboring Guinea, died in Mali after traveling there last month, exposing others to the disease. The doctor worked at the Bamako clinic where Koita was admitted and wrongly diagnosed with kidney problems. He tested positive for Ebola on Nov. 12.
“The government regrets to announce the death of the doctor declared positive and who was being treated in one of the specialized centers,” a statement, read on state-owned television, said.
The government said the death of the doctor, whose name was not released, brought the total number of those who have died of Ebola in Mali to five.
However, before Thursday’s death, the World Health Organization was already reporting five dead, while medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres put the figure at seven.
(Reporting by Tiemoko Diallo; Writing by Joe Bavier; editing by Ralph Boulton; Editing by Emma Farge)