The young Guinean woman diagnosed positive for the Ebola virus in Ivory Coast, where she arrived on August 11 from Guinea, is “cured” of her disease, the Ivorian Ministry of Health said Tuesday.
“We have carried out two biological tests on the patient which are negative in 48 hours of intervals. She is therefore declared cured,” said Serge Eholié, spokesman for the Ministry of Health and head of the department of infectious and tropical diseases at the Treichville University Hospital in Abidjan, which received the patient.
“We lift her isolation today (Tuesday). She is no longer a risk of contamination. She is still very tired, we keep her in hospital” continued Professor Eholié. Forty-nine cases of people having been in contact with the young Guinean woman have been identified by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The country, which has received 5,000 doses of Ebola vaccine, began a vaccination campaign on August 17 for target groups, including health care workers who were in immediate contact with the patient and security forces deployed at the border with Guinea. Côte d’Ivoire is the third country on the African continent this year to be affected by the Ebola virus after the Democratic Republic of Congo and Guinea.