From Jefferson Ibiwale, Benin

The Edo State commissioner for Information and Orientation, Louis Odion, said on Tuesday that the medical tests conducted on the man who died last Sunday at Udo in Ovia South West local government area, shows that the deceased died of bleeding from peptic ulcer and not Ebola as feared.

Members of the community were thrown into a state of anxiety and panic following bleeding observed on the deceased before he died as they feared that the man may have died from the dreaded Ebola virus, prompting officials of the state ministry of health to move to the community to isolate the corpse and commence investigations to ascertain the cause of death.

‎In a press statement issued in Benin, Odion explained that “following reports of a suspicious death in Udo Town in Ovia South West last week, officials of the State Ministry of Health moved in to ascertain the cause. Specimens were taken from the body and taken to the Irrua Specialist Hospital. However, preliminary examinations revealed that the deceased died of bleeding from peptic ulcer. To be sure, further examinations are still ongoing at the Irrua Specialist Hospital.”

Odion said that the state government has stepped up public enlightenment through his ministry adding that all measures will be explored to ensure that the state is free from the dreaded disease, even as the surveillance team raised by the governor Adams Oshiomhole has commenced work.