A 2-year-old girl in Mali, who is confirmed to be the first Ebola patient in the country, has succumbed to the virus. We understand the child and her grandmother had travelled from Guinea to Mali, and might have exposed others.
This is a significant problem for Mali, as the country is not financially prepared to tackle a massive Ebola outbreak. If the child has indeed come in contact with others, then the country will have to make a huge attempt in finding these persons and getting them into an isolated area.
Reports claim the young girl entered a clinic on Tuesday after she and her grandmother entered the country. The World Health Organization is at the moment attempting to confirm media reports on whether or not the girl's mother is showing Ebola-like symptoms, as it could give an idea where the child got the virus.
WHO says while the child was brought to the hospital on Tuesday, she was found to have Ebola on Thursday, and died not too long after. It's sad to find out that she has died, and we can only hope no other Ebola victims turn up in the country after this.
At the moment, over 40 people are being monitored for Ebola symptoms, which include 10 health care workers who came in contact with the girl. Others are out there, but are not yet found.
The country now faces a long wait to know if anyone among the 43 people is suffering from Ebola. The disease has an incubation period of up to 21 days, so until then, the waiting game must be played.
We can only hope and pray for the people of Mali that this disease does not spread across the country. Furthermore, we also hope that none of the folks in isolation right now shows any sign of having the disease, because they might not survive the ordeal.
This case has now made Mali the 6th country in West Africa to be hit by Ebola. We understand that over 4,800 persons have died in West Africa by the virus, and this number is expected to rise tremendously if a treatment is not found soon.
