Ebola Virus: Nigeria records first death



The deadly Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, has claimed its first victim in Lagos, Nigeria in the early hours of today.

Mr. Patrick Sawyer, a WASH consultant at the Ministry of Finance in Monrovia, Liberia was confirmed dead by a Liberian embassy official who pleaded anonymity owing to the sensitivity of the issue. According to the official, Mr Sawyerr’s death was confirmed to him by Nigerian embassy officials, who were monitoring the case.

Recall that yesterday Sawyerr, 40, Liberia, who arrived Lagos recently, suspected to have the Ebola Virus Disease EVD, was quarantined in an undisclosed private hospital in Obalende, Lagos.

Special Adviser to the Governor of Lagos, Dr. Yewande Adeshina, told newsmen that the hospital housing the Liberian has been cordoned off and the victim isolated.

According to her, “On account of (the victim) working and living in an endemic region for EVD, and the presentation of non-specific constitutional symptoms and signs (fever, malaise, body aches, vomiting, diarrhea etc) associated with EVD, a high index of suspicion was raised. Based on this, blood samples were taken to Virology Reference Laboratory, Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH, on Tuesday. Preliminary results necessitated the confirmation of EVD at a World Health Organisation, WHO Reference Laboratory in Dakar, Senegal which is actively in process,” she said. Dr Adeshina added that the patient’s condition is considered stale while the hospital had since initiated Universal Safety Precautionary measures to prevent spread of the disease and guaranteed safety of other patients.

Ebola has killed more than 632 people across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone since an outbreak began in February, straining a string of weak health systems despite international help.

The deadly virus has also infected Sierra Leone’s Sheik Umar Khan, a 39-year-old virologist who is personally credited with treating more than 100 Ebola victims and leading the fight against the deadly Ebola virus outbreak.



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