NEWS (Noticias)

      
          Senegal confirms first Ebola case

The West African country of Senegal has confirmed its first Ebola case one week after closing its border with Guinea over fears that the deadly outbreak could spread, the Senegalese Press Agency reported Friday.

Senegal is the fifth country in the region where the virus has spread.

Senegal's health minister, Awa Marie Coll Seck, confirmed that a 21-year-old university student from Guinea was infected with the Ebola virus and placed in quarantine in the Fann Hospital in Dakar, the news agency reported.

Officials in Guinea alerted Senegal on Wednesday after losing track of the young man, the agency reported.

The man, who doesn't have any signs of bleeding, went to the hospital for a checkup, the agency said. His condition is stable.

On August 21, Senegal closed its border with Guinea over fears of the Ebola outbreak, the deadliest ever. The closure includes any aircraft and ships traveling to Senegal from Guinea, Sierra Leone or Liberia.

The Ebola outbreak "continues to accelerate" in West Africa and has killed 1,552 people, the World Health Organization said Thursday.

The total number of cases stands at 3,069, with 40% occurring in the past three weeks. "However, most cases are concentrated in only a few localities," the WHO said.

The outbreak has been centered in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, with a handful of cases in Nigeria.

The overall fatality rate is 52%, the WHO said, ranging from 42% in Sierra Leone to 66% in Guinea.