Mali: doctor suspected of having Ebola

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Bamako - A doctor at a clinic battling Mali's second Ebola outbreak is suspected of having contracted the deadly virus, officials said on Wednesday, as around 30 people were locked in the quarantined building. The people trapped in the Pasteur clinic in the capital Bamako include 15 African UN soldiers being treated for injuries and tuberculosis, a security source told AFP. “A doctor who is actually a suspected case of Ebola is under observation, because he has been in contact with the two dead people, and we are searching for others who were around the deceased but returned home,” an official at the clinic told AFP. The official said the doctor was under observation at a separate location near the capital.

The government called for calm as it confirmed that a Guinean patient thought to have brought Ebola into Mali and a 25-year-old Malian nurse who treated him - confirmed as having contracted the virus - had died at the clinic, sparking a huge operation to stem the contagion.

Locals said many patients fled following the announcement of the nurse's death on Tuesday and had escaped the quarantine measures.

“There are about 30 of us quarantined in the clinic. There are doctors, patients, 15 soldiers from the UN mission in Bamako. We don't understand this isolation measure... We have nothing to eat. It's chaos - it's a mess,” a doctor contacted by phone told AFP.

Goita Sekou, 66, arrived in Bamako from Guinea 16 days ago by bus and was treated for kidney failure at the private clinic by the nurse, identified by family as Saliou Diarra, a medical source told AFP.

“At (Sekou's) death, it was discovered that two members of his family had died of Ebola. But he hid it,” said the source, although it has not been confirmed that Sekou had Ebola.

“The government assures that, according to protocol for the management of patients with Ebola virus in force, all measures are being taken to identify people who had contact with the deceased,” the health ministry said in a statement.

“The premises of the private clinic and the patient's home have been completely disinfected and placed under observation.” - Sapa-AFP