Nigeria's
Lagos now has 10 Ebola cases: health minister
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[August 11, 2014]
ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria's Lagos
has 10 confirmed cases of Ebola, up from seven at the last count,
although only two so far have died, including the Liberian who brought
the virus in, the health minister said on Monday.
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All were people who had had primary contact with Patrick Sawyer, who
collapsed on arrival at Lagos airport on July 25th and later died,
Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu told a news conference. A nurse who
treated him not knowing what it was and without protective gear also
died.
"As at today, 77 primary and secondary contacts of the index case
have been placed under surveillance or isolation," he added. The
latest case was also a nurse who had had primary contact with
Sawyer.
"When she got ill, we then brought her into isolation. We just
tested her over the weekend."
She had been at home with her husband, who was also now under
surveillance, Chukwu said.
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The West African Ebola outbreak is the worst in history and the
World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday it represents an
international health emergency that will likely continue spreading
for months. It said 961 people have died during the outbreak and
1,779 have been infected.
The disease has strained health systems of affected states and
governments have responded with measures including national
emergencies declared in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria.
Nigeria faces the added problem that public doctors are on strike
over pay and working conditions and have resisted calls by the
government to end their strike to tackle the Ebola crisis.
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The Nigerian Red Cross said it had provided 18 volunteers to work
with the authorities to educate people on how Ebola is spread.
Ebola is one of the world's most deadly diseases, with no known
vaccine or cure. The Zaire strain - the one currently spreading
through West Africa - can kill up to 90 percent of sufferers,
although in the latest outbreak the death toll has been around 55
percent.
(Reporting by Camillus Eboh; Writing by Tim Cocks; Editing by Jeremy
Gaunt)
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