Update: Doctor dies of Ebola in Rivers – FG

Nigeria has confirmed its first Ebola death outside Lagos, a doctor in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, said the doctor had died on August 22, but the results of the tests have only just been made public.

The medical doctor had treated a staff of the ECOWAS office in Lagos, placed under surveillance in the state but escaped to the oil-rich city.

A further 70 people are under surveillance in the city, while his wife, who has taken ill, has been put under quarantine.

The Minister explained that the ECOWAS staff was a primary contact of the index case, the Late Patrick Sawyer, and that even though he does not presently have EVD, a further laboratory tests indicated that he had suffered the deadly disease.

The minister added that the Incident Management Committee had already deployed a very strong team to Port Harcourt to work with the health authorities of Rivers State.