In West Africa, the Ebola outbreak has two faces: While Liberia experiences a significant decline of reported cases, Mali has just announced its eighth, sixth of which had already led to death.
In a report published by Reuters on Monday, November 24, the situation in Liberia has improved, according to Frank Tate, a U.S. brigadier general stationed in the country. At the height of the outbreak, the county reported as many as 80 cases within a week. Today, that's down to only 20. In fact, the positive chance was so dramatic the government, along with USAID, has decided to maintain the 17 treatment units they have instead of adding two more.
The government is no longer declaring a state of emergency and is also hoping to declare Liberia as Ebola free before December ends. Nevertheless, the brigadier general stressed the importance of proper and strict border security as infection is still prevalent in the neighboring regions, especially in Sierra Leone, where it's not showing any signs of decline.
Meanwhile, another African country is facing a tough battle against Ebola. Mali has just confirmed its eighth case on Saturday, November 22. Already six persons had already died of the disease in the country. The government is also monitoring more than 250 people who are more than likely to have acquainted themselves to the patient. They didn't provide any more details about the patient.
One of the earliest cases of Ebola in Mali involved a two-year-old girl who was brought by a relative from a town in Guinea. An infected nurse also died on November 11. It was believed she had contracted the disease after treating a 70-year-old man from Guinea who displayed symptoms of the virus, although his actual illness was never confirmed. As of November 12, the World Health Organization (WHO) is trying to confirm those who attended his funeral as he was an imam.