The Nigerian doctor who attended to the Liberian, Patrick Sawyer, who died about two weeks ago of the dreaded Ebola virus, has been confirmed on Monday to have also contracted the virus.

The minister of Health, Onyebuchi Chukwu, who confirmed this in Abuja today said the doctor’s case is the second the country has recorded.

Speaking during the inauguration of a treatment research group for Ebola in Nigeria, Chukwu said 70 persons have now been placed under surveillance while eight other people would be quarantined today for developing symptoms of the disease.

He said apart from these steps, the government had also set up a treatment research group that will carry out treatment research, receive and verify treatment claims as well as advise government on issues relating to Ebola disease in Nigeria.

The group which is co-chaired by Shingu Gamaliel and Innocent Ujah, both professors of Medicine, has Maurice Iwu, a professor of Pharmacognosy, as well as officials from the Centre for Disease Control as members.

The minister advised the public to be wary of treatment claims including the use of bitter-cola as most treatment findings are still in their laboratory stages.

The minister again directed that corpses of Ebola victims should not be allowed entry to the country.

Similarly, the Liberian authorities have directed that the corpses of Ebola victims be cremated to avoid possible spread and further outbreak.

There is currently no known vaccine or antidote for the Ebola virus in the world, but medical experts say efforts are on to find a remedy to the disease that has affected more that a thousand people since its out-break this year.

The virus is contracted through close contact with bodily fluids and blood of an infected person or animal.

So far, the Ebola virus has killed 227 people in Liberia alone and at least 826 people in the West African sub region, according to the World Health Organization.