WHO Sending Ebola Experts to Mali, 43 People Monitored for Virus

Geneva: The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday that it was sending experts to help Mali fight Ebola, a day after the first case of the disease was confirmed there.

Authorities said on Thursday a two-year-old girl was infected, making Mali the sixth West African country to be touched by the worst outbreak on record of the haemorrhagic fever, which has killed nearly 4,900 people.

A WHO team of three experts has been in Mali evaluating its defences, and at least four more would set off over the next few days, WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib said.

Malian authorities are monitoring 43 people who have been in contact with the girl, including 10 health workers, she told a news briefing.