Ebola: Three Quarantined In Port Harcourt As Government Seeks 60 Contacts Of Dead Doctor

Source: thewillnigeria.com

SAN FRANCISCO, September 01, (THEWILL) - The government of Rivers State has quarantined three persons from the 50 designated as high-risk contacts of Dr. Ikechukwu Enemuo, the doctor that was killed by Ebola after secretly treating an ECOWAS employee who had the disease inside a Port Harcourt hotel.

The 50 persons were designated as high-risk because they had direct primary contact with Dr. Enemuo.

Rivers State Health Commissioner, Dr. Sampson Parker said Sunday during a briefing that the three persons - a doctor, a Pharmacist and a female patient - have shown symptoms of the disease and have been placed under close watch at the Ebola Isolation Unit, Eduoha in Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State.

He said the doctor and pharmacist worked at Sam Steel Clinic operated by Dr. Enemuo, while the female received treatment at the facility for an undisclosed ailment.

Dr. Enemuo's wife, also a medical doctor had tested positive to the disease is in stable condition in an isolation facility in Lagos, the Commissioner said.

Health officials are still trying to locate 60 persons that the Commissioner said have been reluctant to come forward because of the stigmatization of the disease.

'We have identified about 200 people,' he said adding that 60 others have refused to come forward. 'These persons are not coming forward because of the stigma associated with the disease,' he added.

The WHO says about 1500 persons have been killed by the disease in West Africa. The most affected countries are Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.