ECOWAS official dies from Ebola in Nigeria

A 36 year old staff of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, Jatto Asihu Abdulqudir, has died of the Ebola virus in Lagos. 

So far, the virus has killed three people in Nigeria. 

The first two were Patrick Sawyer, who brought the Ebola virus into Nigeria, and one of the nurses who treated him.  

Abdulqudir, who had been under quarantine before his death, was among those who assisted Sawyer, who died from the disease at a Lagos hospital on the 25th of last month. 

Nigeria government has confirmed ten cases of Ebola with 177 persons under survelliance. 

It has declared a national emergency, with a sum of one point nine billion naira released to prevent further spread of the Virus. 

Meanwhile, yet another doctor in Sierra Leone, Modupeh Cole, died on Wednesday, according to Sidie Yayah Tunis, director of communications for the Ministry of Health and Sanitation. Cole, trained in the U.S., was one of the top doctors working in the Ebola isolation ward in Connaught Hospital in Freetown, the capital. He tested positive for the disease last week and was transferred to the eastern district of Kailahun, where Doctors Without Borders is running a treatment center.

Cole's sickness spread fear throughout the hospital where he worked, and staff there went on strike Friday and Saturday after learning that he had tested positive for the deadly disease. They returned to work on Sunday.

Both Cole's and Khan's deaths are a major blow to Sierra Leone's health system, which is struggling to cope with the deadly outbreak.

The outbreak, which was first identified in March in Guinea, has strained the resources of the poor West African countries it has hit and of the international community, which is struggling to mobilize enough qualified doctors.

There is no known cure or licensed treatment for Ebola. 

NEWS24/XINHUANEWS