Nigeria – Authorities from the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital on Nigeria released 15 patients who have been quarantined after the death of a person that triggered the Ebola Virus Disease alarm.
“Tests were run on the blood sample throughout the night and this morning the result confirmed that the deceased was negative for both Ebola and Lassa fever viral diseases. The result of these tests is expected on Monday, October 12th 2015″, said Linus Awute, Permanent Secretary, to journalists waiting outside the hospital, according to The PUNCH.
The blood samples were collected before his death, and taken to Irrua Specialist Hospital in Edo State to conduct the necessary tests.
The hospital’s administration had provisionally closed the Accident and Emergency Ward and decontaminated the unit after the death of a 21-year-old male student of the University, supposedly affected with Ebola.
“There is no cause for alarm. They should continue their work without fear because everything is now okay, but they should ensure that the environment where they work is always clean. This is what we do in cases of any contagious infection and it will last for 72 hours after which the ward will be opened for staff and patients,” Mr. John Kehinde, leader of the team and Director of Environmental Health in the Centre for Disease Control, said after closing the units.
Fifteen health workers and eight patients were quarantined after they had direct contact with the student. All these patients provided updates on their health status twice a day, to keep track on the possibility of an Ebola spread.
Finally, a World Health Organization spokesman called Gregory Hartl said that the “Person who died in a suspected case of Ebola in Nigeria, triggering a scare and the quarantine of 10 others, did not have the deadly virus. There is no need for the public to be scared of EVD as it is not confirmed,” on an email according to the Ledger Gazette.
Doctors stay alert to this rumors, after suffering the worst known Ebola outbreak in West Africa, killing more than 11,000 people.
Source: The Punch