Ebola: Family of dead Nigerian nurse on the run

The husband and children of the Nigerian nurse who died after getting infected with the Ebola virus are on the run, the health officials in the country have said.

Nigeria is the fourth West African country to be hit by the Ebola outbreak since it first emerged in March in Guinea.  The virus entered the country when Patrick Sawyer, who was suffering from the disease arrived by plane late last month in Lagos.

Sawyer, who worked for the Liberian government in Monrovia and had a wife and three young daughters in Minnesota, was on a business flight to Nigeria when he fell ill.

The nurse, the only Nigerian fatality from the disease which has killed over 900 people in four West African countries, was exposed to the virus at a health facility Sawyer was taken before his death.

The nurse’s family were not the first to flee from quarantine. In Sierra Leone, 

health ministry data and officials, dozens of people confirmed by laboratory tests to have Ebola are now unaccounted for.

Industry watchers say the government more increase public awareness and sensitisation to educate the public.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO)  is meeting with Nigerian Ebola Research Team on control and remedy of the disease.

A six-man research committee was inaugurated by the Federal Government on August 4, 2014 with a mandate to carry out research on the deadly contagious virus.

Ajibola Aderonke is an auditor at professional services firm Ernst & Young (EY). She previously worked another Big 4 accounting firm PwC. She can be reached at ajibolaaderonke@gmail.com for ideas and suggestions. The post above and its ensuing comments, if any, is purely the opinion of the writer.