‘Immense concern’ over Ivory Coast’s first case of Ebola in decades
Heath officials expressed concern after Ivory Coast reported its first case of Ebola virus in decades.
The West African nation’s health minister, Pierre Dimba, said a woman aged 18 years was in isolation at a treatment facility in the large city of Abidjan. He said she arrived from neighboring Guinea by road on August 11.
It was the first recorded case of Ebola in Ivory Coast since 1994.
“It is of immense concern that this outbreak has been declared in Abidjan, a metropolis of more than 4 million people,” WHO regional Director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti, MD, MPH, said in a statement. “However, much of the world’s expertise in tackling Ebola is here on the continent and [Ivory Coast] can tap into this experience and bring the response to full speed.”
Moeti said Ivory Coast was already in “full response mode” as one of six countries that WHO has helped “beef up” its readiness to respond to Ebola.
“This quick diagnosis shows preparedness is paying off,” she tweeted. “Africa has made great strides in Ebola control.”
According to the WHO office in Ivory Coast, 5,000 doses of Ebola vaccine arrived from neighboring Guinea on Monday morning. Dimba said vaccination efforts would target nursing staff, people who have been in direct contact with the patient and border security forces.
Despite sharing a border with Guinea and Liberia, Ivory Coast did not report a single case of Ebola during the West African epidemic that killed more than 11,000 people and infected more than 28,000 from 2014 to 2016 — mostly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Guinea recently experienced a 4-month-long Ebola outbreak that killed 12 people and was related to the West African epidemic that ended years before. However, according to WHO, “there is no indication” that the case in Ivory Coast is linked to the Guinea outbreak.
References:
Government of the Ivory Coast. First case of Ebola virus in Côte d’Ivoire: Populations invited to strictly comply with hygiene and prevention measures. https://www.gouv.ci/_actualite-article.php?recordID=12510. Accessed August 16, 2021.
WHO. Côte d’Ivoire declares first Ebola outbreak in more than 25 years. https://www.afro.who.int/news/cote-divoire-declares-first-ebola-outbreak-more-25-years. Accessed August 16, 2021.
Perspective
Back to TopHearing about Ebola virus cases anywhere across the African continent is always concerning, especially given the devastating effects prior outbreaks have had on both human and animal health (eg, outbreaks in great apes), as well as on fragile health care and economic infrastructure. My immediate thoughts were 1) Have close contacts been identified; 2) Is the initial transmission source known? and 3) Have additional cases been identified rapidly?
The significance to me is how quickly can local health authorities and health care workers respond to identify potential contacts of the index case? If this can be done, the likelihood of being able to cut off additional virus transmission is high and the stress on local health care systems can be reduced.
I think that the best example is what we already know for this particular region of Africa from the experiences of the 2014-2016 epidemic. A large-scale outbreak could have devastating impacts, but the increased surveillance since the epidemic has helped with the expeditious identification of cases. This certainly reaffirms the need to continue building and fostering surveillance and response networks across the continent.
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