Senegal detected its first positive case of the Omicron coronavirus variant, the country's Institute of Health Research, Epidemiological Surveillance and Training (Iressef) said on Sunday.
"Senegal registers its first positive case of the Omicron variant. The first positive case of the Omicron variant was detected with the help of Iressef's genomic laboratory on Friday, December 3, 2021," Iressef said on Twitter.
According to the institute, the case was detected in a traveler leaving the country. Their source of infection is yet unknown.
The latest data from the country's ministry of health shows that Senegal has a total of 74,024 positive COVID-19 cases and 1,886 deaths.
Omicron was first detected in South Africa and marked as a variant of concern due to its high infection rates by the World Health Organization prompting countries worldwide to enforce new travel restrictions and public health measures.
The strain is turning up in a growing list of countries, including the US, UK, Germany, Australia among dozens of others.
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