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Ebola: MSF expands activities in Mali

20 Nov 2014
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Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) will respond with swift and coordinated action to new Ebola cases in Mali. This strategy is of paramount importance in the days immediately after cases are reported, the medical organisation says.

After a new case of Ebola was detected in the Malian capital, Bamako, on 11th November, MSF has reinforced its team and expanded its activities to help stop the disease from spreading further.

MSF working with Malian government

Immediate action is required in stemming any new outbreak, especially in the first days after a new case is detected. So far there have been five reported deaths in Mali during the outbreak, three of which were confirmed Ebola patients and two were suspected cases.

One patient with Ebola and two patients suspected  of having the deadly virus are currently being treated at MSF’s case management centre (CMC) in Bamako, which it is running in collaboration with CNAM, Mali’s national disease centre.

MSF is training Malian staff from CNAM in the management of Ebola patients, while overseeing the arrangement of an ambulance system for transporting patients, and the organisation of safe burials. MSF is also involved in tracing the contacts of those who may have been affected by the disease, in coordination with the Malian authorities and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Reinforced team

Meanwhile an MSF team has travelled to the area bordering Guinea, where new cases of Ebola have been detected, to determine the needs in the area.

These activities in Bamako were reinforced last week with a team arriving from Kayes, where the first Ebola case in Mali was detected. 

Find out more about MSF's work in Mali