Escaped Nurse Who Had Contact With Mr Sawyer Tracked In Enugu

 

One of the primary contacts of the late American-Liberian, Patrick Sawyer, who escaped quarantine on suspicion of having the dreaded Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, in Lagos, has been tracked to Enugu. The suspect, identified as a nurse, said to have travelled to her home town to visit her family, is now under surveillance with 20 others she came into contact with in the city.

With the development, the total number of Nigerians under monitoring for the dreaded virus is now 198.

Revealing these facts yesterday after the Federal Executive Council meeting in Abuja, Information Minister, Labaran Maku, explained that Nigeria currently has 10 confirmed cases of Ebola, all stemming from the visit of the late Sawyer.

The woman and her husband were picked up from their residence at Trans-Ekulu and were immediately taken to Lagos where they have been kept under surveillance.

Maku explained that of the 198 persons under surveillance, 177 of them are in Lagos while 21 are in Enugu.

He said: “All those who had primary contact have been quarantined. Secondary contacts have also been traced. So far, the number of people that have been traced is 198.

“Of this number, 177 are in Lagos and are being traced. Some are in quarantine, some are being monitored by health specialists.”

Meanwhile, the death toll world wide from the outbreak stands at 1,069 and total number of infections 1,975, according to the World Health Organisation.

Liberia was hit extremely hard this week, with 71 cases and 32 deaths from Sunday to Monday. Fifty-six deaths and 128 new cases were reported in that same period across all four West African countries affected by the virus.

The consultant said about 21 people believed to have had direct contact were being quarantined for close monitoring by officials of the state Ministry of Health, but he was not aware of the hospital.

According to the minister of Health, laboratories that can test for Ebola Virus Disease in the country include the Centre for Disease Control laboratories in the Lagos University Teaching Hospital and Abuja, and Redeemer’s University laboratory in Ogun State.

He explained that as at yesterday, Nigeria has had 10 confirmed cases of Ebola and they are all those who had contacts with the Liberian.

His words: “There are no cases of secondary contacts. We have had three deaths. The Liberian, the nurse who attended to the Liberian and a protocol official who worked with Ecowas. Seven are alive and are making progress.”

Chukwu said waivers had been granted to two corpses to be brought back to the country; one from Kenya and another from India because the cause of death was not from Ebola virus.

In his remarks, Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State said there was a collaborative effort between the tiers of government and called for cooperation as “government alone will not be able to solve this problem.

“We are working with the Federal Government. We are also working with private hospitals.

“This is not something you should keep in religious houses. It is important to come out to disclose any case. There should be no pretension about it.”