Africa News
Mali won't close border with Guinea─── 11:47 Sun, 26 Oct 2014
Bamako - Mali will not close its border with neighbouring Guinea after a 2-year-old girl infected with Ebola was brought across the frontier by her grandmother and died in Mali this week.
Reuters reports the girl travelled hundreds of kilometres through Mali - including a stop in the capital Bamako - on public transport, potentially exposing many people to the virus, before she died in the western town of Kayes on Friday.
President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita says that the incident showed it was impossible to completely seal his country off from Ebola in neighbouring Guinea but said he remained calm as the girl's journey and potential contacts had already been traced.
He added that the girl's grandmother had made a mistake by going to a funeral in Guinea, where more than 900 people have died of Ebola, and bringing her back.
The World Health Organisation says at least 4 922 people have died of Ebola, mainly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, though the real figure may be as much as three times higher due to under-reporting.
Reuters
