Ebola: Good News As Virus Victim Is Discharged From Hospital

Good news has emerged from the quarantine unit of the Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) at the Mainland Hospital, Yaba, Lagos as the first Nigerian Ebola patient has been discharged from the hospital.


Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu broke the news yesterday, accompanied by Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris, and others on the Joint Federal/State EVD response team, to give an update on the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in Nigeria.

According to Chukwu, the unnamed female doctor, who was one of the primary contacts of the late American-Liberian ‎Patrick Sawyer, had been given a clean bill of health to go home.

"The EOC has advised me to announce that the first ‎Nigerian to be confirmed to have Ebola Virus Disease has this evening been discharged from the isolation unit at the Mainland Hospital, Lagos.

"I have consulted with the experts, and they said clearly that there was a discharge protocol that was employed for this particular patient. It has been followed strictly and was concluded today‎ and what you are getting now is the final outcome.

"Ordinarily, if she had been afflicted with another illness, she would have been discharged long before now."

Earlier, the minister ‎pointed out that five of other Ebola patients had almost fully recovered.

"The total number of confirmed cases of EVD in the country was now 12, with four deaths and 189 under surveillance in Lagos and six in Enugu," he stated.

Responding to questions concerning the welfare of the Ebola victims under the care of the response team at the EOC , Chukwu allayed the fear regarding the standard and quality of care.

"As you are aware, the patients under treatment have now been moved to the new 40-bed capacity isolation ward provided by Lagos State government. Additional equipment has also been made available to the new isolation ward by the Federal Government".