NIGERIA-HEALTH/EBOLA DOCTOR Doctor dies of Ebola in Nigeria's oil hub Port Harcourt

Record ID: 236858

  • Title: NIGERIA-HEALTH/EBOLA DOCTOR Doctor dies of Ebola in Nigeria's oil hub Port Harcourt
  • Date: 28th August 2014
  • Summary: ABUJA, NIGERIA (AUGUST 28, 2014) (REUTERS) NIGERIA'S HEALTH MINISTER ONYEBUCHI CHUKWU ENTERING ROOM VARIOUS OF JOURNALISTS SEATED (SOUNDBITE) (English) NIGERIA'S HEALTH MINISTER, ONYEBUCHI CHUKWU, SAYING: "This primary contact of Mr. Sawyer's had evaded our surveillance team in the last week of July 2014 and travelled out of Lagos to Port Harcourt where, as we now understand, he consulted with a doctor and was apparently treated for some symptoms. A few days later, five days later, following a manhunt for him, he returned to Lagos by which time he was found to be without the symptoms. This case would have been of no further interest since he had completed his 21 days surveillance without any other issue, but for the fact that the doctor who treated him in Port-Harcourt died last Friday, 22nd August 2014. Following the report of his death by the doctor's widow, the next day that is Saturday when the report came to us, the case has since been thoroughly investigated and laboratory analysis shows that the doctor died from Ebola virus disease." VARIOUS OF JOURNALISTS SEATED (SOUNDBITE) (English) NIGERIA'S HEALTH MINISTER, ONYEBUCHI CHUKWU, SAYING: "As a result, several contacts have now been traced, registered and now placed under surveillance in Port-Harcourt. However, because the widow is now symptomatic, she has since yesterday being quarantined pending the outcome of the laboratory test being carried out today on her." JOURNALISTS AND OFFICIALS SEATED AT PRESSER
  • Embargoed: 12th September 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Nigeria
  • Country: Nigeria
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAA07M1AUBYEDFP8SZKQO5EXE5M
  • Story Text: A doctor in Nigeria's oil industry hub of Port Harcourt has died from Ebola fever, after he was infected by man linked to the first case in Africa's most populous country, the Health Ministry said on Thursday (August 28).
    Nigeria's health minister, Onyebuchi Chukwu told journalists at a press briefing in Abuja that the doctor had treated a primary contact of Patrick Sawyer, the Liberian who brought Ebola to Lagos.
    His death brings the number of Ebola fatalities in Nigeria to six.
    "This primary contact of Mr. Sawyer's had evaded our surveillance team in the last week of July 2014 and travelled out of Lagos to Port Harcourt where, as we now understand, he consulted with a doctor and was apparently treated for some symptoms. A few days later, five days later, following a manhunt for him, he returned to Lagos by which time he was found to be without the symptoms. This case would have been of no further interest since he had completed his 21 days surveillance without any other issue, but for the fact that the doctor who treated him in Port-Harcourt died last Friday, 22nd August 2014. Following the report of his death by the doctor's widow, the next day that is Saturday when the report came to us, the case has since been thoroughly investigated and laboratory analysis shows that the doctor died from Ebola virus disease,"
    Chukwu said.
    The total number of recorded cases has risen by two to 15. The wife of the doctor is showing Ebola symptoms and test results are awaited.
    Chukwu said 70 contacts of the doctor were now under surveillance in Port Harcourt.
    "As a result, several contacts have now been traced, registered and now placed under surveillance in Port-Harcourt. However, because the widow is now symptomatic, she has since yesterday being quarantined pending the outcome of the laboratory test being carried out today on her," the health minister added.
    Port Harcourt lies at the heart of Nigeria's two million barrels per day oil industry, Africa's biggest, and is a hub for expatriate workers in major international oil companies.
    It was not immediately clear what impact the arrival of Ebola would have on oil operations.
    The majors operating in Nigeria have historically been comfortable with a fair degree of risk in the oil producing Niger Delta, including attacks on oil installations and rampant kidnapping of expatriates.
    The news came two days after Chukwu said authorities had "thus far contained" the Ebola outbreak in Africa's largest economy, with only one case left being treated in an isolation ward in Lagos.
    All Nigerian cases have been direct or indirect contacts of Sawyer, who collapsed on arrival at Lagos airport on July 25 and later died but was treated before anyone knew what he had.
    The Ebola outbreak in West Africa has taken 1,552 lives out of 3,069 known cases in four countries and "continues to accelerate", the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Thursday.
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