Ebola reaches NY
New York yesterday confirmed the first case of Ebola in the largest city in the United States as the EU dramatically ramped up aid to contain the killer epidemic ravaging west Africa.
The EU announcement of one billion euros ($1.3 billion) for the worst-hit countries comes as fears of a spread of the virus grew, with the first confirmed case in Mali, where a two-year-old girl has tested positive.
The New York case is a doctor who recently returned from treating Ebola patients in Guinea, the epicenter of the world's worst outbreak of the disease.
Craig Spencer was placed in isolation at Manhattan's Bellevue Hospital Center, officials said.
With health workers in Spain and Texas already having caught Ebola from patients originally infected in west Africa, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio insisted the city was fully prepared to stop the disease in its tracks.
"We want to state at the outset, (this) is no reason for New Yorkers to be alarmed. Ebola is an extremely hard disease to contract," said de Blasio.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said city officials had already identified four people believed to have been in contact with the doctor, who worked for the charity Doctors Without Borders, also known by its French acronym MSF.
Ebola has killed almost 4,900 people mainly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
The announcement of the New York doctor's positive test came just hours after Mali reported its first confirmed case of the disease, the latest country affected.
Meanwhile, Democratic Republic of Congo could be declared Ebola-free in late November, as its two-month outbreak apparently fizzles out, the World Health Organization said yesterday.
Meanwhile, Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Paul Allen -- who has already dipped into his vast personal fortune to help WHO deal with the crisis -- said Thursday he was upping his donation to $100 million.
There is currently no licensed cure for Ebola, which is transmitted through close contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person or the body of someone who has died from the disease.
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