Ebola spreads to Senegal

The Ebola epidemic has reached a fifth West African country.

 

Senegal's Ministry of Health confirmed its first case of of the disease today, which puts Senegal alongside Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria in the list of countries affected by the outbreak.

 

The infected person was a young man from Guinea, according to health minister Awa Marie Coll Seck. She added that he was immediately placed in quarantine.

 

Over 1,500 cases and 800 deaths have been confirmed since the outbreak began in Guinea in February, and the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned the situation is worsening.

 

This morning, West African ministers called for Ebola-related travel bans to be lifted, but at a conference today, the UN's health agency offered new evidence to suggest that the spread of the disease is accelerating, saying that there was a greater increase in the number of cases during the last week than in any week prior to that.

 

As it outlined a plan to stop transmission in the next six to nine months, it warned that 20,000 people could be infected before the outbreak subsides.