- Title: NIGERIA: Nigeria reports one more Ebola case, 11 in total
- Date: 14th August 2014
- Summary: ABUJA, NIGERIA (AUGUST 14, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF GOVERNMENT MINISTERS SEATED FOR NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) NIGERIA'S HEALTH MINISTER, ONYEBUCHI CHUKWU, SAYING: "The total number of confirmed cases is 11; out of these 11, three are dead. The three that are dead are: the index case, a Liberian American, a Nigerian nurse who was one of those who managed the index case and a Nigerian who was serving as protocol officer with the Ecowas commission and who was detailed to go and welcome delegates that were to go on to Calabar to attend a meeting of the Ecowas commission." JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) NIGERIA'S HEALTH MINISTER ONYEBUCHI CHUKWU, SAYING: "Eight are still alive, more than half of them are doing very well and actually showing signs of recovery but eight currently are under treatment. What is new in their treatment is that in the last press briefing we told you of a Nigerian scientist who has already offered the country one of the experimental drugs, the Nalo Silver, and hopefully today that will reach the treatment centre. We will follow all the protocols as governed by the national health research ethics code of this country." VARIOUS OF INFORMATION MINISTER DEMONSTRATING AND EXPLAINING HOW TO USE A SANITISER FOR PUBLIC OFFICES (SOUNDBITE) (English) NIGERIA'S HEALTH MINISTER ONYEBUCHI CHUKWU, SAYING: "As at this morning, 169 persons are under surveillance in Lagos. The number is going down now because all the 169 now are secondary contacts. We have completed the 21 days maximum incubation period to observe primary contacts so we have allowed those primary contacts who have not shown any sign of disease to be and so all the 169 contacts presently in Lagos as at this morning under contact are all secondary contacts." ONGOING NEWS CONFERENCE
- Embargoed: 29th August 2014 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Nigeria
- Country: Nigeria
- Topics: Health
- Reuters ID: LVA1JJVG9AXM2NCKLPRVNYBDJ2V
- Story Text: Nigeria has confirmed 11 cases of Ebola, after a doctor who treated the Liberian man who brought the disease to Lagos fell ill, the health minister said on Thursday (August 14).
The doctor had been one of those involved in the initial treatment of Patrick Sawyer, who collapsed at Lagos airport on July 20, Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu told a news conference in the capital Abuja.
A member of staff of West African regional economic body Ecowas this week became the third person in Nigeria to die of the disease, which has no proven cure and has killed more than 1,000 people across four West African countries.
"The total number of confirmed cases is 11; out of these 11, three are dead. The three that are dead are: the index case, a Liberian American, a Nigerian nurse who was one of those who managed the index case and a Nigerian who was serving as protocol officer with the Ecowas commission and who was detailed to go and welcome delegates that were to go on to Calabar to attend a meeting of the Ecowas commission," Chukwu said.
The health minister said those who have been confirmed with the Ebola fever will soon be treated with the Nalo Silver experimental drug.
"Eight are still alive, more than half of them are doing very well and actually showing signs of recovery but eight currently are under treatment. What is new in their treatment is that in the last press briefing we told you of a Nigerian scientist who has already offered the country one of the experimental drugs, the Nalo Silver, and hopefully today that will reach the treatment centre. We will follow all the protocols as governed by the national health research ethics code of this country," he said.
A nurse with Ebola, which she caught from Sawyer, skipped quarantine in Lagos and headed to her home in the southeastern city of Enugu, where she was suspected to have had contact with 20 other people.
However, Chukwu said after initial screening, they realised only six people had been in contact with her, and they put those six under surveillance.
A total of 169 people were under surveillance in Lagos, after eight others were cleared, including all of Sawyer's primary contacts from when he came in.
"As at this morning, 169 persons are under surveillance in Lagos. The number is going down now because all the 169 now are secondary contacts. We have completed the 21 days maximum incubation period to observe primary contacts so we have allowed those primary contacts who have not shown any sign of disease to be and so all the 169 contacts presently in Lagos as at this morning under contact are all secondary contacts", said Chukwu.
The government also announced that Dangote Group, owned by Africa's richest man Aliko Dangote, had donated $150 million to halt the spread of the virus.
The World Health Organization has called this Ebola outbreak, whose worst affected countries include Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, an international emergency. It has killed around 55 to 60 percent of those have contracted the disease. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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