Ivory Coast detects first Ebola case in 25 years

Two members of the Guinean Red Cross, in protective gear, arrive on March 31, 2014 to evacuate the bodies of two people who died from the Ebola virus in an isolation ward at the Donka hospital in Conakry, Guinea. AFP FILE PHOTO

ABIDJAN — Ivory Coast has declared a first case of the Ebola hemorrhagic virus in 25 years, the health minister and the World Health Organization (WHO) said separately on Saturday.

Health Minister Pierre Dimba said on national television that it was an isolated case of an 18-year-old girl who traveled from neighboring Guinea.

The World Health Organization said in a statement that Ivory Coast confirmed the country’s first case of Ebola since 1994.

“This came after the Institut Pasteur in Ivory Coast confirmed the Ebola Virus Disease in samples collected from a patient, who was hospitalized in the commercial capital of Abidjan, after arriving from Guinea,” the WHO said in the statement.