The Minister of Health in Nigeria, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, says
the first Nigerian Ebola patient declared fit and discharged from
hospital.
Professor Chukwu told journalists in Lagos on Saturday that the
patient, whose identity has not been revealed, was asked to go home
after all the necessary medical examinations were carried out.
"The total number of Ebola cases now stands at 12, while the number of
deaths remains four. The people under surveillance in Lagos is now
189, while six are in Enugu, in southeast Nigeria," Professor Chukwu
said.
The minister also announced that the drug, Nano Silva, which was
thought could be used to treat Ebola patients in Nigeria, was said not
to have met the requirements of the National Health Research ethics
code.
His statement is coming two days after the death of a fourth Ebola
patient was reported.
In an effort to contain the spread of the virus, the Lagos State
government, the only state in Nigeria with reported cases of Ebola,
had provided an isolation unit to accommodate persons who tested
positive to the virus.
At a press conference in Abuja on Thursday Professor Chukwu, said
eight persons were still alive, more than half of them are doing very
well and actually showing signs of recovery ... under treatment," Prof
Chukwu said.
The discharged patient is believed to be among those he earlier said
were recovering.
The World Health Organization has called this Ebola outbreak, whose
worst affected countries include Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, an
international emergency. It has killed around 55 to 60 percent of
those who have contracted the disease.
President Goodluck Jonathan last week declared the Ebola outbreak in
Lagos State a national emergency and approved an intervention fund of
1.9 billion Naira to contain the disease.
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