The first case of Ebola in Mali was confirmed tonight, making it the sixth West African country to be touched by the worst outbreak on record of the deadly disease.
Health Minister Ousmane Kone told state television that the patient was a two-year-old girl who had recently arrived from neighbouring Guinea, where the outbreak began.
The child was brought to a hospital in the Malian town of Kayes - which is about 375 miles from the capital of Bamako - on Wednesday, and her blood sample tested positive for the virus.
'The condition of the girl, according to our services, is.....
improving thanks to her rapid treatment,' the minister said.
He added: 'The sick child and the people who were in contact with her in Kayes were immediately identified and taken care of.'
A health ministry official, who asked not to be identified, said the girl's mother died in Guinea a few weeks ago and the child was brought by relatives to Bamako, where she stayed for 10 days in the Bagadadji neighborhood before heading to Kayes.
Health officials have long viewed Mali as one of the most vulnerable to Ebola's spread as the nation borders Guinea - one of the hardest-hit countries - and Senegal.
The news emerged after the World Health Organisation (WHO) said earlier today that it had 'reasonable confidence' the Ebola virus plaguing three West African countries had not spread into neighbouring states.
Asked whether countries such as Mali, Guinea-Bissau and Ivory Coast might have cases of the disease crossing their borders without knowing about or reporting them, WHO assistant director general Keiji Fukuda said he considered that unlikely.
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