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Senegal Confirms First Case Of Ebola

August 29, 2014

The minister told the press today that a male university student from Guinea was the index case.

Awa Marie Coll Seck, Senegal's Minister of Health and Social Action, confirmed the country's first case of Ebola on Friday.

Encouraging the public to remain calm, the minister stated today that a male University of Conakry student from Guinea was the index case. He allegedly went to L'Hotital De Fann in Dakar, the country's capital, on Tuesday, though doctors did not know that he was infected.

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Ebola patient being treated by a medical team

By Wednesday, a disease surveillance team in Guinea alerted authorities that they lost contact with a person who had been under watch after contact with sick persons three weeks prior. They suspected the young man was the missing person, eventally tracking him to the hospital in Dakar.

"On the basis of this information, investigations were conducted in accordance with previously established procedures," Seck said. Following the confirmation, he was immediately quarantined, and is said to be in "satisfactory" condition.

At this time they do not know how the young man entered the country.

Senegal is now the fifth West African country affected by the EVD outbreak. On August 21 the country closed all land borders with Guinea, a preventative measure against the Ebola virus.