Ebola-infected doctor not dead

Lagos State has dismissed reports the
medical doctor who tested positive to the ebola
virus had died.
Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide
Idris, noted that the female medical doctor
who attended to the index case of Ebola Virus
Disease at a private hospital in Lagos is the
only confirmed case to date out of the eight
primary contacts under clinical surveillance
and care.
Contrary to reports, she was alive, he noted.
"Her being infected is largely due to the fact
that she was a primary contact when the index
case presented. At that point in time, the
disease was not known to have been imported
into the country," Idris explained.
He stated that the essence of the briefing on
Tuesday was to highlight the mode of
transmission of ebola stressing that the
disease was transmissible through direct
contact with broken skin, mucous membranes
and secretions of an infected persons or
through direct contact with materials and
surfaces that have been contaminated by an
infected person.
"This is a call for vigilance as human to
human transmission is only achieved by
physical contact with a person who is acutely
and gravely ill from ebola virus through body
fluids such as blood, urine, stool, saliva,
breast milk and semen. Burial ceremonies
where mourners including family members
have direct contact with patients who died of
Ebola have also played a role in the spread of
the disease," Idris said.