Lagos female doctor contracts Ebola virus as Lagos plans another isolation centre, may isolate 10 people

The Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, told journalists in Abuja Monday that ‘‘about eight other persons who came into contact with Sawyer, and who had developed the Ebola symptoms, had been quarantined while 70 others were under surveillance.’’ He also said that one of the doctors that treated the Liberian-born American, Patrick Sawyer, who died of   the Ebola disease, had contracted the virus.

Just minutes after Chukwu and Oluwole spoke, there were rumours that the doctor who treated Sawyer had died.

The rumour was quickly dismissed by the Director, Centre for Disease Control, Abuja, Prof. Abdulsalami Nasidi.

Nasidi   told journalists in Lagos that the doctor had been quarantined and was presently receiving treatment .

He said, ,”We will not be able to release the name of the new contact; but we know that the person is a doctor and a female. The patient is not dead. She is alive. Experts from the local and international organisations are attending to the patient.”

In Lagos, we gathered that the state government had begun renovating another centre at the Mainland Infectious Diseases Hospital, Yaba , to isolate and accommodate some of the people that had direct contact with the late   Sawyer.

A reliable source, who is also on the team of experts monitoring the testing and surveillance of persons who came into contact with Sawyer,   said the building would give more room for them to contain possible infections.

He said, “ We are presently renovating another building at the hospital, so that we can isolate more contacts. This is now important with the recent development. We need to increase vigilance on surveillance on persons who came in contact with him.

“For now, we are looking at isolating at least 10 people that had first contact with him (Sawyer). This is in line with the stated guidelines for the monitoring of the virus by the World Health Organisation.”