Mali seeks to calm Ebola panic as Mauritania closes border

Mali authorities on Saturday sought to calm fears after Ebola claimed its first victim in the African country, a contagious toddler who took a 1,000-kilometre bus journey before being treated. The World Health Organization (WHO) 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. 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. Mauritania meanwhile reinforced controls on its border with Mali, which led to a de facto closing of the border.

Since the start of this epidemic, we in Mali took all measures to be safe, but we can never hermetically seal ourselves from this. Guinea is a neighbouring country, we have a common border that we have not closed and that we will not close.

Mali president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita

The WHO said it was treating the situation in Mali as an “emergency” because the toddler had travelled for hundreds of kilometres on public transport with her grandmother while showing symptoms of the disease - meaning that she was contagious. The girl and her grandmother travelled by public transport from Keweni in Guinea through the towns of Kankan, Sigouri and Kouremale to the Malian capital Bamako. The Malian authorities were tracing everyone who had contact with the girl and her grandmother and placed more than 50 people under observation.

The child’s symptomatic state during the bus journey is especially concerning, as it presented multiple opportunities for exposures.

World Health Organisation

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