Ebola: Late P’Harcourt Doctor’s Sister Tests Positive

The Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, has put the total number of confirmed cases of Ebola Virus Disease in Nigeria at 18. The 18th patient, according to the Federal Government, is the sister of the late Port Harcourt doctor who died of the EVD recently.

A statement issued on Wednesday night by his Special Assistant (Media and Communication), Mr. Dan Nwomeh, said the number of cases successfully managed and discharged was eight while the number of deaths from EVD was seven.

Chukwu also debunked rumours of EVD cases outside Lagos and Port Harcourt, adding that, “regarding the rumoured case in Zaria, the blood sample has been sent for Ebola testing.”

He said, “The total number of confirmed cases of Ebola Virus Disease in Nigeria is now 18. The 18th confirmed case is the sister of the late Port Harcourt doctor. The total number of cases successfully managed and discharged is now eight.

“The last case to be discharged, the first secondary contact to be diagnosed and a spouse of a primary contact of the index case, went home from the isolation ward in Lagos yesterday (Wednesday). The 9th survivor is the ECOWAS Commission official, who jumped surveillance in Lagos and travelled to Port Harcourt, where he infected the doctor who attended to him.

“The total number of deaths from Ebola Virus Disease in Nigeria is now seven. One, the index case occurred in a private hospital in Lagos four in the Lagos isolation ward; one 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 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.

“The total number of EVD patients currently under treatment is two, one in the Lagos isolation ward and another one in the Port Harcourt isolation ward.

“The total number of contacts currently under surveillance in Lagos is 41, while Port Harcourt is 255. The total 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.

He also debunked the story that the body of the late Port Harcourt doctor was transported to Edo or Delta, saying the body had been decontaminated and would be interred in Port Harcourt.

Meanwhile, the Kaduna State Government on Wednesday said contrary to media report that the result of the suspected Ebola patient at the Ahmadu Bello Teaching Hospital, Zaria, confirmed to be negative, was not true.

The state said it had yet to receive any result regarding the suspected Ebola patient as reported.

The State Commissioner of Health, Dr. Thot Dogo, who spoke to newsmen shortly after attending the State Executive Council meeting at the Sir Kashim Ibrahim Government House, Kaduna on Wednesday, said the Lagos laboratory, where the blood sample of the patient was taken to, had not released the test result.

The commissioner stated this just as the Chief Medical Director of the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Prof. Khalid Lawal, denied receiving any Ebola patient in the hospital.

He said there was no iota of truth in the reports that a 19-year-old student of the Faculty of Law, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, was admitted because he was suffering from the dreaded disease.

The CMD said, “I can’t confirm it because we don’t have any test result. We are not taking chances but it is unlikely.”

The commissioner assured the people of the state not to panic as the government was on top of the situation.