Ivory Coast Starts Ebola Jabs After First Case In Decades
Umer Jamshaid Published August 16, 2021 | 07:21 PM
Ivory Coast was set to roll out vaccinations against Ebola on Monday after the country recorded its first known case of the disease since 1994, the health ministry said
Abidjan, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 16th Aug, 2021 ) :Ivory Coast was set to roll out vaccinations against Ebola on Monday after the country recorded its first known case of the disease since 1994, the health ministry said.
"Health workers, close relatives and contacts of the victim" will be vaccinated from Monday afternoon, using 5,000 doses sent from Guinea, spokesman Germain Mahan Sehi told AFP.
Ivorian health workers had previously said that vaccinations of "targeted groups" had already begun on Sunday.
The case was recorded in Abidjan, Ivory Coast's economic hub, in an 18-year-old Guinean woman who had arrived in the country on Wednesday after travelling by road from Labe in Guinea, the authorities said on Saturday.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said genetic sequencing of a virus sample would determine whether the case was linked to a recent flareup of Ebola in neighbouring Guinea.
The fact that it had occurred in a conurbation of more than four million people was of "immense concern," it said.
Ebola causes severe fever and, in the worst cases, unstoppable bleeding.
It is transmitted through close contact with bodily fluids, and people who live with or care for patients are most at risk.
The death rate varies from 25 to 90 percent, according to past outbreaks, although the chance of survival rises significantly if the disease is spotted at an early stage.
Combatting Ebola outbreaks mainly involves the time-honoured technique of tracing and isolating people who have been in contact with patients.
This has recently been joined by a vaccine that was extensively deployed against an epidemic that ran in eastern DR Congo from August 2018 to June 2020, claiming more than 2,200 lives.
The discovery in Ivory Coast comes nearly two months after the UN's health agency declared an end to Guinea's second outbreak of Ebola, which started last year and claimed 12 lives.
Five WHO experts have been sent from Guinea to help train several dozen Ivorian health workers in using the vaccines.
Related Topics
Recent Stories
PTI founder acquitted in May 9 vandalism case
Liverpool confirm Slot will replace Klopp as manager
Russian playwright & director on trial for 'justifying' terrorism
Free media, responsible opposition play crucial roles in national development: S ..
AJK leaders condolence Iranian President's demise in helicopter crash
Schauffele birdies final hole to capture PGA for first major win
Police arrest two persons in murder case
ICC seeks arrest warrants for Israeli PM, defence minister and Hamas leaders
Business community condole tragic death of Iranian President
Murad Baloch calls on Governor Balochistan
City faces heatwave, temperature soars to 43.7°C
Bhai Khan Welfare association setup heat stroke centre
More Stories From World
-
Before Raisi, other leaders killed in aviation dramas
6 hours ago -
Ukraine humanitarian aid falling while needs rise: UN
6 hours ago -
Turkish president announces day of mourning over death of Iranian president
6 hours ago -
Pope sends 'assurance of spiritual closeness' to Iran
6 hours ago -
Rafah exodus, propelled by Israeli military, passes 810,000 people, says UNRWA
7 hours ago -
US offers condolences over Raisi death
7 hours ago
-
Cargo ship that destroyed Baltimore bridge towed to port
8 hours ago -
UN chief mourns loss of Iranian President in helicopter crash
8 hours ago -
Russian playwright & director on trial for 'justifying' terrorism
8 hours ago -
ICC seeks arrest warrants for Israeli PM, defence minister and Hamas leaders
8 hours ago -
Incredible Pakistani Awards’ conferred on 9 Pakistanis in Dubai
9 hours ago -
Dominican Republic's President Abinader wins resounding re-election
10 hours ago