On Thursday, the Federal Government of Nigeria released a statement confirming that the death of a doctor in a Port Harcourt hospital in River State was a confirmed case of the Ebola virus disease. Minister of health, Onyebuchi Chukwu, said that the doctor treated another doctor who was a part of the team is that treated the first Ebola case in Nigeria. Patrick Sawyer was the Liberian- American patient who is believed to have brought the virus into the country. Mr. Sawyer was under the care of a dedicated team of doctors and other health workers for the duration of his isolation. Some of them have since been diagnosed with the disease as well.
According to reports, this member of the Sawyer medical team was able to evade the Health agency's surveillance efforts and was able to travel to Port Harcourt. This is where he, reportedly, sought treatment with the doctor that eventually died because of the virus. The doctor that was part of Mr. Sawyer team went to get treatment from a local hospital for the symptoms that he began experiencing. Minister Chukwu said, "After four days, following a manhunt for him, he returned to Lagos by which time he was found to be without symptoms." Unfortunately, however, the doctor that treated him contracted the virus and died of Ebola on August 22. Minister Chukwu said that laboratory tests that were conducted after the doctor's death confirmed that he died from EVD. The name of the fallen doctor was undisclosed.
"As a result, several contacts have not been traced, registered, and placed under surveillance. However, because the [doctor's] widow is now symptomatic, she has been quarantined pending the outcome of laboratory tests on her." The window has now been quarantined and placed under surveillance along with the 70 other people who are believed to have been in contact with the doctor at the Port Harcourt Hospital.
This now brings the Ebola death toll in Nigeria to six.
