By John Chimunhu
(News Of The South) – A Guinean student has taken the deadly ebola virus to neighbouring Senegal, making it the fifth West African country affected by the scourge, which has killed 1 500 people in recent weeks.
In Guinea itself, where 400 have died, riots broke out Friday after residents of Nzerekore followed a false report that Red Cross workers spraying disinfectant in a market wanted to infect them with ebola.
Senegal’s health minister, Awa Marie Coll Seck told journalists that
the unnamed student who later died had turned up for treatment at a facility in Dakar on Tuesday, but did not reveal that he had come into contact with victims back home.
Authorities had been searching for him since he disappeared after testing positive at the Pasteur Institute in Dakar.
“We are tracing his whole itenerary and also identifying anyone who had contact with the patient,” Seck said.
Ebola has killed 1 550 people in West Africa since the current outbreak began. Another 3 000 are infected with the WHO warning the figure could rise to 20 000.
The IMF said regional economies would be hard hit by loss of revenue from tourism and other sources.
West African leaders appealed to
foreign governments to lift travel bans imposed when ebola was first reported in the area.
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