ABIDJAN, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) – Côte d’Ivoire announced on Tuesday evening that it was removed from the list of Ebola virus countries after the Guinean national suspected of having the disease and being treated in Abidjan was declared recovered and her case deemed “negative”.
“The results returned negative for both PCR and serology, the government decided to classify this patient as non-case of Ebola virus disease, thereby removing Côte d’Ivoire from the list of Ebola virus countries”, Health Minister Pierre Dimba said in a statement.
This West African country declared an Ebola virus disease epidemic on August 14 following confirmation by the Institut Pasteur laboratory of a sample taken from a patient who left Labé in Guinea on August 8. and arrived in Abidjan on August 12 where she was admitted to Ivorian health structures and taken care of.
“The patient has to date been declared recovered after two consecutive tests carried out on August 21 and 23 by the laboratory of the Institut Pasteur returned negative,” said Minister Dimba.
The samples were also sent for confirmation to an accredited reference laboratory for viral haemorrhagic fevers which declared the samples received on August 27 “negative”.
This was the first suspected case recorded in Côte d’Ivoire since the epidemic that had raged in West Africa between 2013 and 2016. It had killed more than 11,000 for nearly 30,000 cases detected mainly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. End
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