Nigeria records seventh Ebola death

Abuja, Sep 4: An Ebola infected patient died in Nigeria Wednesday, bringing the toll from the disease to seven in the West African country, an official said.

Nigeria's Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu told reporters that the number of death from the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in the country increased to seven, following the death of a female patient who was on admission in a hospital in Port Harcourt, capital of oil-rich Rivers State, Xinhua reported.

"The female patient was on admission in the same hospital with Iyke Enemuo, a doctor who recently died of Ebola in Port Harcourt," the official said.

In a related development, a patient was discharged from an isolation facility in Lagos Tuesday, following full recovery from the disease, Chukwu noted.

The official said a total of 18 confirmed cases of Ebola have been recorded in the African country since the latest outbreak, while the total number of EVD patients currently under treatment is two.

Authorities in Nigeria Monday announced that they would procure a new Japanese drug called Favipiravir to treat Ebola patients in the country.

Nigeria announced last week it was almost free from Ebola, but Chukwu said this would become reality after new cases in the southern part of the country had been carefully and successfully treated.

Nearly 2,000 people have so far died of Ebola since the latest outbreak in African countries.

IANS