Lagos doctor dies of Ebola: Ebola virus death toll hits five

Nigeria yesterday recorded the fifth death in the Ebola outbreak.

The announcement of the death of Dr. Stella Shade Aneyo Adadevoh, the senior consultant physician who treated the late American-Liberian Ebola patient Patrick Sawyer, sent her family members and colleagues into mourning.

She was among the last surviving three patients who contracted the virus after having

primary contact with the late Sawyer.

She died at the isolation ward of the Lagos Mainland Hospital in Yaba, Lagos where they were being treated.

A statement last night from the Federal Ministry of Health, titled: “Fifth death of Ebola patient recorded in Nigeria”, said: “The Honourable Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, regrets to announce the death, this evening, of one of the primary contacts of the index Ebola Virus Disease case, the most senior doctor who participated in the management of the patient, a female consultant physician.

“With this unfortunate development, the total number of Ebola Virus related deaths in Nigeria now stands at five. The other two patients currently under treatment in the isolation wards are stable and are being taken care of.”

The statement was signed by Mr. Dan Nwomeh, Special Assistant on Media and Communication to the Minister.

Dr. Adadevoh is survived by her only son.  Her friends said last night that she had been looking forward to December for the 80th birthday celebration of her mother.  She is the first doctor and the fourth Nigerian to die from the virus.

Two nurses and an ECOWAS protocol officer had earlier died of the virus – all of them having had primary contact with the late Sawyer.  Five other infected persons also from the hospital through Sawyer, have been discharged from isolation ward, leaving only two, undergoing treatment.

CREDITS: THE NATIONS