Eight Nigerian Ebola patients have been successfully treated and discharged, Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, said this afternoon in Abuja.

The minister, who was giving an update of the status of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in Nigeria, said that the total number of confirmed cases of EVD in the country is now 18. “The 18th confirmed case is the sister of the late Port Harcourt doctor,” he said, adding:

“The last case to be discharged, the first secondary contact to be diagnosed and a spouse of a primary contact of the index case, went home from the isolation ward in Lagos yesterday. (The 9th survivor is the ECOWAS Commission official who jumped surveillance in Lagos and travelled to Port Harcourt where he infected the doctor who attended to him).

“Total number of deaths from Ebola Virus Disease in Nigeria is now seven (7). One (1), the index case, occurred in a private hospital in Lagos, four (4) in the Lagos isolation ward, one (1) in the Port Harcourt isolation ward (the female patient who was on admission in the same hospital where the late Port Harcourt doctor was also admitted), while another one (1) was the doctor who was infected by the ECOWAS Commission official in Port Harcourt and who did not come under the care and management of the Incident Management Committee.

“Total number of EVD patients currently under treatment is two (2), one in the Lagos isolation ward and another one (1) in the Port Harcourt isolation ward.

“Total number of contacts currently under surveillance in Lagos is forty one (41), while Port Harcourt has two hundred and fifty five (255).

“Total number of contacts discharged in Lagos after they were observed for 21 days is 320.

The minister also debunked rumours of EVD cases outside Lagos and Port Harcourt. These include the three (3) reported cases in the Federal Capital Territory and one case in Calabar. The minister further debunked the story that the body of the late Port Harcourt doctor was transported to Edo or Delta State, saying the body has been decontaminated and will be interred in Port Harcourt. Regarding the rumoured case in Zaria, the blood sample has been sent for Ebola testing.”

•Photo shows Prof. Chukwu.