Ebola spreads in Liberia, Nigeria
Print Edition
TWO alarming new cases of Ebola have emerged in Nigeria, widening the circle of people sickened beyond the immediate group of caregivers who treated a dying airline passenger in one of Africa’s largest cities.
The outbreak also continues to spread elsewhere in West Africa, with 142 more cases recorded, bringing the new total to 2,615 with 1,427 deaths, the World Health Organization said on Friday.
Most of the new cases are in Liberia, where the government was delivering donated rice to a slum where 50,000 people have been sealed off from the rest of the capital in an attempt to contain the outbreak.
New treatment centers in Liberia are being overwhelmed by patients that were not previously identified. One facility with 20 beds opened its doors to 70 possibly infected people, likely from “shadow-zones” where people fearing authorities won’t let doctors enter, the United Nations health agency said.
“This phenomenon strongly suggests the existence of an invisible caseload of patients who are not being detected by the surveillance system,” the agency said.
This has “never before been seen in an Ebola outbreak.”
The two new cases in Nigeria were infected by their spouses, both medical workers who had direct contact with Liberian-American Patrick Sawyer, who flew into Nigeria from Liberia and Togo and infected 11 others before he died in July.
The male and female caregivers also then died of Ebola, Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu said on Friday.
Nigerian officials first said the risk of exposure to others was minimal because Sawyer was isolated after arriving at the airport.
But Lagos state health commissioner Jide Idris later said that Sawyer was not immediately quarantined.
The two new cases were quarantined two days ago.
They were previously under surveillance, meaning they were contacted daily to see if they developed any symptoms, but their movements were unrestricted.
Once they showed symptoms, they were brought in.
Authorities are now trying to identify and monitor everyone they have been in contact with.
In all, 213 people are now under surveillance in Nigeria, while the number of confirmed infections is 16. Five have died and five have recovered; the rest are being treated in isolation in Lagos, where Sawyer’s flight landed.
The damage has been far greater in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, each dealing with hundreds of cases. Liberia has been hit hardest, with 1,082 cases and 624 deaths.
In Liberia, a teenage boy died after being shot by security forces in West Point, a slum that was blockaded this week to stop the spread of Ebola, a Liberian government spokesman said on Friday.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
