Nigeria on Wednesday confirmed five new cases of Ebola in Lagos and a
second death from the virus, bringing the total number of infections in
sub-Saharan Africa's largest city to seven.
"Nigeria has now recorded 7 confirmed cases of Ebola Virus Disease (EVB)" health minister Onyebuchi Chukwu said.
Those
who have died include the "index patient", a Liberian who brought the
virus to Lagos on 20 July, and a nurse who treated him, the minister
added.
"All the Nigerians diagnosed with EBV were primary
contacts" of Patrick Sawyer, who worked for Liberia's finance ministry
and contracted the virus from his sister, Chukwu said.
He travelled to Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, for a meeting of west African officials.
Visibly
sick upon arrival at the international airport in Lagos, officials said
he was immediately transferred to the First Consultants hospital in the
upmarket Ikoyi neighbourhood.
He died in quarantine on 25 July and the hospital has since been closed.
The five Ebola patients are being treated in an isolation ward in Lagos, the minister told journalists.
Since
breaking out earlier this year, the tropical virus has claimed almost
900 lives and infected more than 1 603 people across west Africa. The
other cases have been reported in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
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