EU opens Ebola treatment center in Abidjan

The European Union (EU) has opened a referral center for treatment of any eventual Ebola cases at Treichville University Hospital Center in Abidjan, an official source said Tuesday.

The source said Cote d'Ivoire's Prime Minister Daniel Kablan Duncan visited the center which was constructed on a piece of land measuring 3,000 square meters.

The center with a capacity of 24 beds, was funded by EU at a cost of 188 million CFA Francs (325,000 U.S. dollars).

The center will be used for diagnosis and treatment of all eventual Ebola cases as well as all other highly infectious diseases.

It is comprised of a waiting room, an observation room, a treatment room, a technical zone, a counselling room, an isolation room, a pharmacy, an incinerator and a morgue.

Cote d'Ivoire's Health Minister Raymonde Goudou-Coffie who explained the specificities of each room, said the waiting room will be used to separate suspected cases from confirmed cases.

She said blood samples from suspected cases will be taken to Pasteur Institute in Abidjan and results will be obtained within three hours.

"In case of confirmation, the patient will be placed in a special ward that has 12 beds, and which requires maximum confinement," the minister said, while also insisting on the precautionary measures that need to be taken by medical workers while handling suspected and confirmed cases.

"Wearing their individual protection clothing, health workers will be expected to remain vigilant, ensuring proper disinfection and incineration of all objects used by the patients," Goudou- Coffie said.

To date, no Ebola case has been confirmed in Cote d'Ivoire despite the proximity of the country with Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone where the virus has killed at least 8,500 people out of the 22,000 cases. Endi