Malians fled their homes on Monday as rumours swirled over two new Ebola infections in a sign of the febrile atmosphere gripping the country since reporting its first case.The alert in the western town of Kayes turned out to be a false alarm, which was just as well since emergency services dispatched to the scene had none of the protective gear required to approach the location of a real outbreak.But the drama underscored the panic rife in the town since a toddler died there on Friday, in the first case of Ebola in the west African nation.Two-year-old Fanta Conte had recently returned to Mali from neighbouring Guinea, one of the countries worst affected by an epidemic that has killed more than 4,900 people.At the hospital where Fanta died, wide-eyed health workers listened to an expert spelling out the precautions they could take to protect themselves against the virus."The disease is contracted primarily by... sweat, blood, faeces, semen and saliva," said Abdoulaye Coulibaly, part of a team of doctors who had come to Kayes with a mission of preventing the nightmare scenario of a full-blown outbreak."The war against Ebola must be total, and we can only win it through communication," he added, clenching a fist in a gesture of defiance.Medical personnel and large amounts of material required to battle an outbreak of the tropical pathogen, including protective overalls and disinfection equipment, have been pouring into Kayes.The authorities have been distributing antibacterial gels to hotels, government buildings and private homes across the windswept desert town of 130,000 straddling the Senegal river.Meanwhile a frightened population have been taking their own precautions, eschewing handshakes with friends and acquaintances."You see, we touch by elbows now, which shows you the fear that exists," said Sow Moussa, a former railroad worker.Young people from a voluntary organisation called "Stop Ebola" have been going door to door to give out information on the virus."As soon as you have a fever, you have to take your temperature," one of the volunteers, Ouma, tells a resident.Across Kayes -- historically a major source of Malian migration to France -- the deadly Ebola virus is the main topic of hushed, nervous chatter.Schools in and around the town that shut in the wake of Fanta's death reopened on Monday, but many parents kept children away from classes."I'm going to wait a few more days before sending my kids back to school," said Oumar Fofana, a banker who worried about the large movement of people in and out of the region."(Mali) has borders with Senegal, Mauritania and Guinea. We are in a mining area where you can find almost all nationalities. Let's face it -- this is a dangerous situation," he added.Sitting on a camp bed in a large tent near the hospital, Fanta's grandmother, Amy Gueye, appeared calm as a doctor in protective clothing examined her.Gueye has perhaps more cause for concern than anyone else in Kayes about possible infection, as she had been travelling with her granddaughter for days before the girl died.Gueye was "doing better" after the shock of Fanta's death, the medic, Samba Sow, said as he checked her vital signs.A little further on, a building houses another 42 other people identified as having had contact with the child in Kayes and being kept in isolation for the 21-day incubation period."This is the normal procedure," says Sow, adding that on Monday three more people who approached the girl were traced to a location 30 kilometres (20 miles) outside of Kayes and quarantined.Meanwhile 12 family members who were in contact with Fanta during a stop-off in Bamako are under quarantine in the Malian capital."Our only salvation is that we quickly find a vaccine. If not, thousands (more) Africans will die," Mame Diarra, a nurse in a health centre, told AFP.

The first clinical trials in Africa of a vaccine developed by UK-based GlaxoSmithKline and the US National Institutes of Health have just started in Mali.The first doses are not expected to be available until 2015, however, well after the expected peak of the epidemic ravaging west Africa.