A doctor in Nigeria's oil industry hub of Port Harcourt has died from Ebola fever, after he was infected by man linked to the first case in Africa's most populous country, the Health Ministry said on Thursday.
Heath Ministry spokesman Dan Nwomeh said on his Twitter feed that the doctor had treated a primary contact of Patrick Sawyer, the Liberian who brought Ebola to Lagos. His death brings the number of Ebola fatalities in Nigeria to 6.
The total number of recorded cases had risen by two to 15, Nwomeh said, the other one being the wife of the doctor who is showing Ebola symptoms and whose test results are awaited.
Port Harcourt lies at the heart of Nigeria's two million barrels per day oil industry, Africa's biggest, and is a hub for expatriate workers in major international oil companies.
Nwomeh said 70 contacts of the doctor were now under surveillance in Port Harcourt.
It was not immediately clear what impact the arrival of Ebola would have on oil operations. The majors operating in Nigeria have historically been comfortable with a fair degree of risk in the oil producing Niger Delta, including attacks on oil installations and rampant kidnapping of expatriates.
The news came two days after Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu said authorities had "thus far contained" the Ebola outbreak in Africa's largest economy, with only one case left being treated in an isolation ward in Lagos.
All Nigerian cases have been direct or indirect contacts of Sawyer, who collapsed on arrival at Lagos airport on July 25 and later died but was treated before anyone knew what he had.
The Ebola outbreak in West Africa has taken 1,552 lives out of 3,069 known cases in four countries and "continues to accelerate", the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Thursday.
Reuters
Related stories: Nigeria has successfuly contained Ebola
5 have recovered from 12 Ebola cases
Thursday, August 28, 2014
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
Shell on the verge of selling Nigeria oil fields for $5bn
European oil major Royal Dutch Shell is moving ahead with plans to sell a number of its Nigerian oilfields as it ploughs ahead with planned asset sales.
The Anglo-Dutch firm is leading a consortium that is close to selling a cluster of oilfields that include the Nembe Creek Trunk Line, for around $5bn (£3bn, €3.8bn,) according to the Financial Times newspaper.
The move is the latest attempt by a western oil company to pull out from the restive Delta region and the Nigerian market amid recurring incidents of infrastructure sabotage that have caused billions of dollars' worth of damage.
A deal is expected to be finalised in the next few weeks and the total figure for the sale could still change.
Shell "has signed sales and purchase agreements for some of the oil mining leases but not all that we are seeking to divest", Shell said in a statement. "The assets under consideration are OMLs 18, 24, 25, 29 and the Nembe Creek Trunk Line, but the process has not yet concluded."
Shell has already sold off around $8bn worth of assets this year after it announced plans to sell around $15bn worth of assets through 2015.
Indigenous oil companies have expanded in Nigeria in recent years, capitalising on a government plan to boost domestic control over the oil industry.
Shell has faced long-running criticism from human rights groups over its oil production operations in Nigeria.
The company had not taken effective measures to restore the damaged environment in the Niger Delta after oil production caused contamination of the water there, Amnesty International reported in August.
Yahoo
Related story: Aliko Dangote 'Africa's richest man' plans to acquire Shell assets
Nigeria fines shell $11.3 billion for damages caused in Bonga oil spill
The Anglo-Dutch firm is leading a consortium that is close to selling a cluster of oilfields that include the Nembe Creek Trunk Line, for around $5bn (£3bn, €3.8bn,) according to the Financial Times newspaper.
The move is the latest attempt by a western oil company to pull out from the restive Delta region and the Nigerian market amid recurring incidents of infrastructure sabotage that have caused billions of dollars' worth of damage.
A deal is expected to be finalised in the next few weeks and the total figure for the sale could still change.
Shell "has signed sales and purchase agreements for some of the oil mining leases but not all that we are seeking to divest", Shell said in a statement. "The assets under consideration are OMLs 18, 24, 25, 29 and the Nembe Creek Trunk Line, but the process has not yet concluded."
Shell has already sold off around $8bn worth of assets this year after it announced plans to sell around $15bn worth of assets through 2015.
Indigenous oil companies have expanded in Nigeria in recent years, capitalising on a government plan to boost domestic control over the oil industry.
Shell has faced long-running criticism from human rights groups over its oil production operations in Nigeria.
The company had not taken effective measures to restore the damaged environment in the Niger Delta after oil production caused contamination of the water there, Amnesty International reported in August.
Yahoo
Related story: Aliko Dangote 'Africa's richest man' plans to acquire Shell assets
Nigeria fines shell $11.3 billion for damages caused in Bonga oil spill
Video - Nigerians react to military allegedly fleeing from Boko Haram battle
Reactions have been trailing the action of some Nigerian soldiers who reportedly fled into Cameroon when confronted in a fierce fire fight with militant Islamist sect Boko Haram. Cameroonian authorities yesterday said about 400 Nigerian soldiers fleeing from Boko Haram crossed over into its territory. But the Nigerian military high command says the action of the soldiers was a tactical maneuver.
Related stories: Some Nigerian soldiers refuse to fight Boko Haram until given new weapons
Wives of Nigerian soldiers protest the lack of resources troops have to combat Boko Haram
Schools in Nigeria to remain closed until October in efforts to insure Ebola containment
All schools in Nigeria have been ordered to remain shut until 13 October as part of measures to prevent the spread of the deadly Ebola virus.
The new academic year was due to start on Monday.
But the education minister ordered the closures to allow staff to be trained on how to handle suspected Ebola cases.
Five people have died of Ebola in Nigeria. The West Africa outbreak has centred on Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, killing more than 1,400 people.
It is the largest ever outbreak and has infected an estimated 2,615 people. About half of those infected have died.
The virus is spread between humans through direct contact with infected bodily fluids.
There is no cure for Ebola but with intensive care treatment and proper hydration, patients have a chance of survival.
It spread to Nigeria - Africa's most populous country - in July, when a person infected with Ebola flew from Liberia to Lagos.
Protective clothing 'shortages'
The Nigerian government says it hopes its efforts to contain the virus are working, as there is only one confirmed case of Ebola remaining.
"All state ministries of education are to immediately organise and ensure that at least two staff in each school, both private and public, are trained by appropriate health workers no later than 15 September 2014 on how to handle any suspected case of Ebola," said Education Minister Ibrahim Shekarau.
"And also embark on immediate sensitisation of all teaching and non-teaching staff in all schools on preventive measures," he said.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) has temporarily shut an Ebola testing laboratory in Kailahun in eastern Sierra Leone after a Senegalese health worker became infected with the virus.
There have been 392 Ebola deaths in Sierra Leone, according to the latest UN figures released on 22 August. Kailahun is one of the worst-affected districts and is currently under blockade.
"It's a temporary measure to take care of the welfare of our remaining workers," a WHO spokesman is quoted by the Reuters news agency as saying.
On Tuesday, the WHO said an "unprecedented" number of doctors and nurses had been infected with Ebola which was further impeding control efforts.
Infections were due to a shortage of protective equipment and staff, it said.
Only one or two doctors are available for 100,000 patients in some of the affected countries.
BBC
Related story: Nigeria has successfuly contained Ebola
The new academic year was due to start on Monday.
But the education minister ordered the closures to allow staff to be trained on how to handle suspected Ebola cases.
Five people have died of Ebola in Nigeria. The West Africa outbreak has centred on Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, killing more than 1,400 people.
It is the largest ever outbreak and has infected an estimated 2,615 people. About half of those infected have died.
The virus is spread between humans through direct contact with infected bodily fluids.
There is no cure for Ebola but with intensive care treatment and proper hydration, patients have a chance of survival.
It spread to Nigeria - Africa's most populous country - in July, when a person infected with Ebola flew from Liberia to Lagos.
Protective clothing 'shortages'
The Nigerian government says it hopes its efforts to contain the virus are working, as there is only one confirmed case of Ebola remaining.
"All state ministries of education are to immediately organise and ensure that at least two staff in each school, both private and public, are trained by appropriate health workers no later than 15 September 2014 on how to handle any suspected case of Ebola," said Education Minister Ibrahim Shekarau.
"And also embark on immediate sensitisation of all teaching and non-teaching staff in all schools on preventive measures," he said.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) has temporarily shut an Ebola testing laboratory in Kailahun in eastern Sierra Leone after a Senegalese health worker became infected with the virus.
There have been 392 Ebola deaths in Sierra Leone, according to the latest UN figures released on 22 August. Kailahun is one of the worst-affected districts and is currently under blockade.
"It's a temporary measure to take care of the welfare of our remaining workers," a WHO spokesman is quoted by the Reuters news agency as saying.
On Tuesday, the WHO said an "unprecedented" number of doctors and nurses had been infected with Ebola which was further impeding control efforts.
Infections were due to a shortage of protective equipment and staff, it said.
Only one or two doctors are available for 100,000 patients in some of the affected countries.
BBC
Related story: Nigeria has successfuly contained Ebola
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Nigeria has successfuly contained Ebola
Nigeria's health minister has insisted the Ebola outbreak has been contained in the country, and said it was working hard with its African neighbors to fight the disease.
Speaking to CNBC on Tuesday, Onyebuchi Chukwu said there was currently only one confirmed case of the disease in the country.
"(Ebola) limited it to one city, Lagos. All the cases so far have occurred in Lagos," Chukwu said. "Nigeria has contained the disease, but that is not to say that we have cured it."
He added that a meeting of the Economic Community Of West African States focused on the Ebola was underway.
In total, the World Health Organization (WHO) has reported 16 cases of Ebola in Nigeria and five deaths since the first case was detected in July. It has previously praised the intensity of Nigeria's search and monitoring efforts of further cases.
Overall, 1,427 people across Nigeria, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone have died of the viral disease as of August 2014, according to the WHO, while 2,615 cases have been reported in the region.
By comparison, the "Swine" flu pandemic of 2009-10 killed over 16,000 people.
This Sunday, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) confirmed an outbreak of Ebola in the remote village of Boende—about 1,200 kilometers from the country's capital. The DRC's health ministry said this outbreak was unlinked to the one in West Africa and was a different strain of the disease.
There is no known cure for the illness, which in previous epidemics killed around 90 percent of sufferers. The current outbreak has a 53 percent death rate, the WHO said.
Ebola is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads through human-to-human transmission. Victims often suffer a sudden fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. This is followed by vomiting, diarrhea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding.
CNBC
Related story: International community applauds Nigeria for Ebola containment efforts
Speaking to CNBC on Tuesday, Onyebuchi Chukwu said there was currently only one confirmed case of the disease in the country.
"(Ebola) limited it to one city, Lagos. All the cases so far have occurred in Lagos," Chukwu said. "Nigeria has contained the disease, but that is not to say that we have cured it."
He added that a meeting of the Economic Community Of West African States focused on the Ebola was underway.
In total, the World Health Organization (WHO) has reported 16 cases of Ebola in Nigeria and five deaths since the first case was detected in July. It has previously praised the intensity of Nigeria's search and monitoring efforts of further cases.
Overall, 1,427 people across Nigeria, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone have died of the viral disease as of August 2014, according to the WHO, while 2,615 cases have been reported in the region.
By comparison, the "Swine" flu pandemic of 2009-10 killed over 16,000 people.
This Sunday, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) confirmed an outbreak of Ebola in the remote village of Boende—about 1,200 kilometers from the country's capital. The DRC's health ministry said this outbreak was unlinked to the one in West Africa and was a different strain of the disease.
There is no known cure for the illness, which in previous epidemics killed around 90 percent of sufferers. The current outbreak has a 53 percent death rate, the WHO said.
Ebola is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads through human-to-human transmission. Victims often suffer a sudden fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. This is followed by vomiting, diarrhea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding.
CNBC
Related story: International community applauds Nigeria for Ebola containment efforts
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