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Mali�s Ministry of Health has confirmed the country�s first case of Ebola virus disease. �The Ministry received positive laboratory results, from polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing, on Thursday, October 23, and informed World Health Organization (WHO) immediately. �In line with standard procedures, samples are being sent to a WHO-approved laboratory for further testing and diagnostic work,� a statement issued by the WHO and copied to the Ghana News Agency over the weekend said. �In telephone conversation on Thursday night, health officials gave WHO the following details about the case, which is currently undergoing intense investigation.� The statement said the patient was a two-year-old girl, who recently arrived from Guinea accompanied by her grandmother. It said the child�s first contact with the country�s health services occurred on October 20, when she was examined by a health care worker at Quartier Plateau in Kayes, a city in western Mali on the Senegal River. �Symptoms on admission included a fever of 39�C, cough, bleeding from the nose, and blood in the stools. �Test results were negative for malaria, but positive for typhoid fever. The child received paracetamol, but did not improve,� it said. �Further testing at the country�s SEREFO laboratory confirmed Ebola virus as the causative agent on October 23.� It said initial investigation of this case � the first confirmed in Mali � has revealed the extensive travel history of the child and her grandmother. The statement noted that the grandmother travelled from her home in Mali to attend a funeral in the town of Kissidougou, in southern Guinea. WHO is seeking confirmation of media reports that the funeral was for the child�s mother, who is said to have shown Ebola-like symptoms before her death. �These and other facts will be communicated as they are confirmed,� the statement said.