Liberian man who died in Nigeria's megacity of
Lagos on Friday has tested positive for the deadly
Ebola virus, the country's health minister has
confirmed.
The man, who was in his 40s, collapsed on arrival in
Lagos, a city of 21 million people, on Sunday, and
was taken from the airport and put in isolation in a
Nigerian Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu said
all ports of entry in the country are now on "red alert"
and health officials are investigating all people who
had contact with the deceased.
Earlier on Friday, a Nigerian official in Geneva said
the man died while under quarantine.
"The Liberian came in and he was quarantined at
the airport and not allowed to go to the city. While
he was quarantined he passed away. Everyone who
has had contact with him has been quarantined," he
told Reuters.
Ebola, one of the world's deadliest diseases, has killed
660 people across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone
since it was first diagnosed in February. There have
been 1,093 cases to date in West Africa's first
outbreak, according to the UN health agency.
The Liberian man is the first case on record of Ebola
in Nigeria, Africa's biggest economy and, with 170
million people, its most populous country.
"He departed on the plane initially with no
symptoms, he reported being symptomatic on arrival. I
understand that he was vomiting and he then
turned himself over basically, he made it known that
he wasn't feeling well. Nigerian health authorities
took him and put him in isolation," World Health
Organization spokesman Paul Garwood said earlier
on Friday.
Ebola victim from Sierra Leone on the run
Also on Friday, Sierra Leone officials appealed for
help to trace the first known resident in the capital
with Ebola whose family forcibly removed her from a
Freetown hospital after testing positive for the deadly
disease.
Radio stations in Freetown, a city of around 1 million
inhabitants, broadcast the appeal on Friday to locate
the woman.
"Saudatu Koroma of 25 Old Railway Line, Brima
Lane, Wellington," the announcement said. "She is a
positive case and her being out there is a risk to all.
We need the public to help us locate her."
Ebola outbreak: Sierra Leone defends response
Top Sierra Leone doctor contracts virus
Koroma, 32, a resident of the densely populated
Wellington neighbourhood, had been admitted to an
isolation ward while blood samples were tested for the
virus, said health ministry spokesman Sidi Yahya
Tunis. The results came back on Thursday.
"The family of the patient stormed the hospital and
forcefully removed her and took her away," Tunis
said. "We are searching for her."
Fighting one of the world's deadliest diseases is
straining the region's weak health systems, while a
lack of information and suspicion of medical staff
has led many to shun treatment.
Dozens with Ebola unaccounted for
Earlier this year, a man in Freetown tested positive for
Ebola although he is believed to have caught it
elsewhere.
According to health ministry data and officials,
dozens of people confirmed by laboratory tests to have
Ebola are now unaccounted for in Sierra Leone, where
the majority of cases have been recorded in the
country's east.
While international medical organizations have
deployed experts to the field in an attempt to contain
the outbreak, WHO said poor health infrastructure
and a lack of manpower were hindering their efforts.
"We're seeing many of these facilities simply don't
have enough people to provide the constant level of
care needed," Garwood told a news briefing in Geneva
on Friday.
There is no cure or vaccine for Ebola, which causes
diarrhea, vomiting and internal and external
bleeding. It can kill up to 90 per cent of those
infected, although the mortality rate of the current
outbreak is around 60 per cent.
The West African outbreak is the first time that
Ebola, which was first discovered in what is now
Democratic Republic of Congo in 1976, has appeared
in heavily populated urban areas and international
travel hubs.
Cases have already been confirmed in Conakry and
Monrovia, the capital cities of Guinea and Liberia.
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