Nigerian's health minister Onyebuchi Chukwu has today confirmed the first recorded death from Ebola in Port Harcourt. Poster: Signs and Symptoms of Ebola It would be recalled that yesterday it was unofficially reported that the doctor whose name is yet to be provided died August 22 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, from the deadly tropical virus.
The top Nigerian health official confirmed August 28 the information: "This primary contact of Mr. Sawyer's evaded our surveillance team in the last week of July 2014 and travelled out of Lagos to Port Harcourt where, as we now understand, he consulted with a doctor and was apparently treated for some symptoms." "Following the report of this death by the doctor's widow the next day, the case had been thoroughly investigated and laboratory analysis showed that this doctor died from EVD (Ebola Virus Disease)." The deceased secretly treated a diplomat who had contacted the first Ebola victim in Nigeria, Patrick Sawyer (the index case).
It was also confirmed that the man's wife and 70 more people were placed under surveillance.
While the doctor lost the fight with the tropical disease, his patient, the diplomat, 4 days later returned to Lagos without symptoms. The diplomat allegedly met Patrick Sawyer in Lagos and then traveled to Port Harcourt for treatment, evading Nigerian federal government surveillance. Upon arrival the doctor took him to hotel for treatment. It was yesterday reported that apart from tracing the doctor's contacts, the authorities shut the doctor's hospital, Good Heart Hospital in Rivers State, and the hotel involved.
Interestingly, yesterday Rivers State Commissioner of Health, Dr Sampson Parker, debunked the rumours about recording the first case of Ebola in the state and characterized the allegation as untrue, according to Vanguard. The unfortunate development means that the doctor's death might cause another wave of infection with the virus, which had been previously registered only in Lagos.
Two days ago the Nigerian health authorities expressed joy over the successful management of the disease as only 1 patient with Ebola was believed to have remained in the country. The deadly virus currently ravaging West Africa has already claimed nearly 1,500 of lives in the region.
Nigeria's first Ebola patient came from Liberia on July 20. Since then all the country resources were mobilized to reduce the possibility of epidemic. A total of 29 people were isolated and put under surveillance. Twelve people who contacted Sawyer tested positive for the virus, 4 of them died, while 7 have successfully recovered and were sent home.
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