Ebola: Second patient dies in Port Harcourt, 296 people under surveillance

The number of death from the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in the country has increased to seven as the female patient who caught the virus while on admission in the same hospital with the deceased Port Harcourt doctor, Iyke Enemuo, has died.

Making the disclosure yesterday during a press conference, Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu said: “Total number of deaths from Ebola Virus Disease in Nigeria is now seven.  One (1), the index case, occurred in a private hospital in Lagos, four (4) in the Lagos isolation ward, one (1) in the Port Harcourt isolation ward (the female patient who was on admission in the same hospital where the late Port Harcourt doctor was also admitted), while another one (1) was 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.”

He also said that another patient had been discharged after full recovery from the ailment, bringing the number of patients discharged so far to eight.

The Minister noted that the latest case to be discharged was the first secondary contact to be diagnosed, a spouse of a primary contact of the index case. She was discharged on Tuesday. The ECOWAS Commission official who evaded surveillance in Lagos and travelled to Port Harcourt where he infected late Enemuo, the doctor who attended to him, has been counted as the 9th survivor of the virus.

Sister to late Enemuo is the 18th confirmed case in the country as she is currently receiving treatment at the Lagos isolation centre.

Further figures state that: “Total number of EVD patients currently under treatment is two (2), one in the Lagos isolation ward and another one (1) in the Port Harcourt isolation ward.

“Total number of contacts currently under surveillance in Lagos is forty one (41), while Port Harcourt has two hundred and fifty five (255) and the total number of contacts discharged in Lagos after they were observed for 21 days is 320”