EVD cases in Nigeria rises to 18 as 8th patient discharged from Lagos Isolation Ward

The number of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) has risen from seventeen to eighteen cases with the latest case been the sister of the late Port Harcourt doctor, Ikechukwu Enemuo.

Making this known to BusinessDay, the minister of health Onyebuchi Chukwu, revealed that the total number of cases successfully managed and discharged stands at eight with the last case to be discharged being the first secondary contact to be diagnosed and spouse of a primary contact of the index case who was discharged from the isolation ward in Lagos yesterday.

The minister explained that the 9th survivor is the ECOWAS Commission official who escaped surveillance in Lagos and travelled to Port Harcourt where he infected the doctor who attended to him who later died of the deadly virus.
Clarifying the number of deaths from EVD in the country, the minister disclosed that seven persons have died from the disease

According to the minister “ Those dead include an index case that occurred in a private hospital in Lagos, four in the Lagos isolation ward, one in Port Harcourt isolation ward (the female patient who was on admission in the same hospital where the late Port Harcourt doctor was also admitted and  Ikechukwu Enemuo, the doctor who was infected by the ECOWAS Commission official in Port Harcourt and who did not come under the care and management of the Incident Management Committee.

“The number of EVD patients currently under treatment is two; one at the Lagos isolation ward and another at the Port Harcourt isolation ward. The number of contacts currently under surveillance in Lagos is 41, while Port Harcourt has 255. The number of contacts discharged in Lagos after they were observed for 21 days is 320.”

The minister also debunked rumours of EVD cases outside Lagos and Port Harcourt. These include the three reported cases in the Federal Capital Territory and one case in Calabar. Chukwu also debunked the story that the body of the late Port Harcourt doctor was transported to Edo or Delta State, saying the body has been decontaminated and will be interred in Port Harcourt.

Regarding the rumoured case in Zaria, the blood sample has been sent for Ebola testing.

 

Alexander Chiejina