This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
WHO, Mali government declare country Ebola-free
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Officials from WHO and the Malian government have announced the country is free of Ebola virus, according to a press release.
On Jan. 18, Ousmane Kone, minister of health and public hygiene in Mali, commended the efforts of national and international organizations in combating the outbreak. The statement came 42 days after the country’s last Ebola case tested negative for the virus.
“This is a historic milestone in the fight against Ebola in Mali, Africa and the world,” Ibrahima Socé Fall, MD, MPH, PhD, WHO’s representative and the head of the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response in Mali, said in the release. “Ebola is a terrible disease and continues to pose a threat to peace, security, the economy and the very existence of our society.”
Fall applauded those who contributed to efforts against the outbreak, including the president of Mali, the UN, Kone and the Malian public, but also said that the job is not complete until the other countries in West Africa see the same results.
“We cannot let our guard down. The fight continues,” Fall said.
As of Jan. 19, there have been 8,429 confirmed deaths and 21,296 confirmed cases of Ebola disease, according to WHO.