DAKAR, Senegal

Ivory Coast announced its first case of the novel coronavirus Wednesday, while stressing all precautionary measures are being taken.

The virus known as COVID-19 was detected in an Ivorian who went to the hospital with complaints of fever and a runny nose after returning from Italy, the country's health ministry said in a statement.

It also said the patient has been quarantined and is stable.

In addition to the Ivory Coast, on the African continent COVID-19 cases were reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burkina Faso, Egypt, Algeria, Nigeria, Senegal, Cameroon, Tunisia, South Africa, and Morocco.

Two out of 114 cases in Africa have resulted in death.

The virus was first detected in December in Wuhan, China.

The global death toll is approaching 4,300, with 118,000 confirmed cases, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), which has declared the outbreak “a global pandemic.”

*Writing by Fahri Aksut