Mali records new Ebola case, linked to dead nurse

BAMAKO - Mali has recorded a new case of Ebola in the capital Bamako after the friend of a nurse who died of the haemorrhagic fever earlier this month tested positive for the disease, health and medical officials said on Saturday.

The nurse contracted the disease after treating an imam from neighbouring Guinea, who died after being incorrectly diagnosed with kidney problems. This allowed Ebola to spread to five other people in the West African nation's second outbreak.

"Of two suspected cases tested, one was negative and the other positive. The latter was placed in an isolation centre for intensive treatment," a statement from the health ministry said, adding that another 310 contact cases were being monitored.

Two Malian medical officials, who asked not to be named, confirmed the relationship between the new case and the deceased nurse.

A total of 5,459 people have died in the worst Ebola outbreak on record, according the World Health Organisation (WHO). Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia account for all but 15 of them.

Of the six previously known cases of the disease in Mali, all have died, the WHO said on Friday.