The total Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) case count in Mali has reached six, including five deaths, according to the latest World Health Organization (WHO) update.
The most recent cases are in the Malian capital Bamako, and are not related to the country’s first EVD case, who died in Kayes on 24 October.
All identified contacts connected with the initial case have all now completed 21 day follow-up. As of 16 November 2014, a total of 384 contacts have been identified and are under follow-up; 96 of the 384 contacts are HCWs.
At the heart of the West Africa outbreak, a total of 15,113 confirmed, probable, and suspected cases of EVD and 5406 deaths have been reported by the Ministries of Health of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
While the outbreak has been either stabilizing or declining in Guinea and Liberia, EVD transmission remains intense and widespread in Sierra Leone, with 533 new confirmed cases reported in the week to 16 November.
Much of this was driven by intense transmission in the country’s west and north. The worst affected area remains the capital, Freetown, which reported 168 new confirmed cases.
Spain is on the clock as far as heading towards becoming Ebola-free. In Spain, 28 days have passed since the HCW infected while caring for a patient with EVD in Madrid tested negative twice and was discharged from hospital. Spain will therefore be declared free of EVD 42 days after the date of the second negative test if no new cases are reported. All 83 contacts of the HCW have completed 21-day follow-up.
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