Mali says it has placed almost 600 people who may have been exposed to Ebola under surveillance as the country battles to contain the spread of the deadly tropical virus.
The west African nation has been scrambling to prevent a minor outbreak turning into a major crisis after the deaths of a Guinean imam and the Malian nurse who treated him in the capital Bamako.
A friend who had visited the imam in the Pasteur clinic also died of probable Ebola, while a doctor at the clinic who contracted the disease was undergoing treatment.
A two-year-old child died of Ebola in an unconnected case in the western town of Kayes in October.
President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, on a visit to the imam's home village of Kouremale on the Mali-Guinea border, urged locals to take all precautions in "the war" against Ebola.
"I ask you to redouble your vigilance. We will not close the border, but don't let anyone enter Mali without having washed their hands or taken their temperature," the president told frontier medical workers.
By way of example, the president then soaped his own hands and had his temperature taken.
Health Minister Ousmane Kone, who accompanied the president on the trip, said "577 people were under daily observation", up from Sunday's figure of 442 people who were being monitored for Ebola symptoms.
