The Minister of Health, Onyebuchi Chukwu, has confirmed a new case of the Ebola virus disease in Lagos, bringing the total number of infections to 19.
The breakdown of the case, he said, is 15 in Lagos, one of Nigeria’s commercial cities, and four in Port Harcourt, the River State capital.
The minister made the confirmation on Monday at a press briefing to update Nigerians on the status of the Ebola virus disease in the country.
Onyebuchi said that the 19th case was the fiancé of one of the late victims, who came in contact with the index case, Patrick Sawyerr, adding that all the cases recorded since the disease came into the country on July 20, have been linked to the Liberian-American who imported it into the country.
He stressed that the 19th case has only been quarantined but has not been placed on any serious treatment because the result of the series of tests carried out on him have been ambiguous, adding that he has since recovered from the light symptoms he earlier showed.
He explained further that Nigeria so far has recorded seven deaths. five out of which occurred in Lagos – four in the isolation wards and the carrier of the disease into the country, Patrick Sawyer.
The remaining two, he said, occurred in Port Harcourt, the River state capital, one of which was a medical doctor and a patient who came in contact with doctor while on admission.
Onyebuchi further said that Nigeria has treated and discharged nine patients whom he noted are among the 11 survivors of the Ebola disease.
The minister also explained that a patient who is the wife of the late medical doctor in Rivers State is currently receiving treatment at the isolation ward and might be discharged later this week.
Nigeria Confirms 19th Ebola Case
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