Bashir Adigun and Jonathan Paye-Layleh
Abuja, Nigeria: The doctor who treated a man who flew to Nigeria and died of Ebola now has contracted the disease, authorities said on Monday, presenting a dire challenge to Africa's most populous nation as the regional toll for the outbreak grew to 887 dead.
As Nigerian health authorities rushed to quarantine others who had been exposed to the doctor, a special plane landed in Liberia to evacuate the second American missionary who fell ill with Ebola. Nancy Writebol, 59, is expected to arrive in Atlanta on Tuesday, where she will be treated at a special isolation ward.
The second confirmed case in Nigeria is a doctor who treated Patrick Sawyer, the Liberian-American man who died July 25 days after arriving in Nigeria from Liberia, said Nigerian Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu.
Three others who also treated Sawyer now show symptoms of Ebola and their test results are pending, he said. Authorities are trying to trace and quarantine others in Lagos, sub-Saharan Africa's largest city of 21 million people.
"This cluster of cases in Lagos, Nigeria is very concerning," said Dr Tom Frieden, director of the US Centres for Disease Controls and Prevention, which is dispatching 50 experienced disease control specialists to West Africa. Read more
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| Nigeria health officials wait to screen passengers in Lagos. Photo: AP |
Abuja, Nigeria: The doctor who treated a man who flew to Nigeria and died of Ebola now has contracted the disease, authorities said on Monday, presenting a dire challenge to Africa's most populous nation as the regional toll for the outbreak grew to 887 dead.
As Nigerian health authorities rushed to quarantine others who had been exposed to the doctor, a special plane landed in Liberia to evacuate the second American missionary who fell ill with Ebola. Nancy Writebol, 59, is expected to arrive in Atlanta on Tuesday, where she will be treated at a special isolation ward.
The second confirmed case in Nigeria is a doctor who treated Patrick Sawyer, the Liberian-American man who died July 25 days after arriving in Nigeria from Liberia, said Nigerian Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu.
Three others who also treated Sawyer now show symptoms of Ebola and their test results are pending, he said. Authorities are trying to trace and quarantine others in Lagos, sub-Saharan Africa's largest city of 21 million people.
"This cluster of cases in Lagos, Nigeria is very concerning," said Dr Tom Frieden, director of the US Centres for Disease Controls and Prevention, which is dispatching 50 experienced disease control specialists to West Africa. Read more
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