Fatal virus claims its first victim in Mali

Mali authorities on Saturday scrambled to calm fears over Ebola after the disease claimed its first victim in the African country, a contagious toddler who took a 1,000-kilometre journey on public buses before seeking treatment.

The World Health Organisation warned the situation in Mali was an ‘emergency,’ and said in its latest Ebola situation report that the biggest outbreak on record has now killed 4,922 people, the vast majority of them in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, with 10,141 cases reported.

Mali president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita aimed to ease fears after the death of a two-year-old girl, the first Ebola case in the landlocked country, who travelled from neighbouring Guinea. ‘We are doing everything to prevent panic and psychosis. Since the start of this epidemic, we in Mali took all measures to be safe, but we never hermetically sealed ourselves from this,’ he said in an interview with French radio.