Ebola: first case reaches Saudi Arabia

The growing number of cases in Lagos comes as authorities said they did not treat Patrick Sawyer as an Ebola patient and isolate him for the first 24 hours after his arrival in Nigeria last month.Mr Sawyer, a 40-year-old American of Liberian descent with a wife and three young daughters in Minnesota, was traveling on a business flight to Nigeria when he fell ill.The death of the nurse marks the second Ebola death in Nigeria, and this worries health experts as it is the Africa's most populous country and Lagos, where the deaths occurred, one of its biggest cities.Ben Webster, a Red Cross disaster response manager in London, said it is ‘critically important’ that people displaying symptoms are identified quickly.He added: ‘It's impossible to say whether this specific situation could have been avoided.‘But there is certainly more likelihood of travellers coming from an Ebola-affected country in the region and authorities need to be aware, even if the infrastructure and situation is challenging.’In Saudi Arabia officials say a man who was being tested for the Ebola virus has died.The 40-year-old returned on Sunday from Sierra Leone, where at least 286 people have died from Ebola, and was then hospitalised in Jeddah after showing symptoms of the viral haemorrhagic fever.Spain's Defence Ministry, meanwhile, said a medically-equipped Airbus 310 is ready to fly to Liberia to repatriate a Spanish missionary priest who has Ebola.The ministry said today that preparations for the flight are being finalised but it is not yet known what time the plane will take off.'It makes you nervous when so many people are potentially at risk'Stephen Morse, Columbia UniversityThe priest, Miguel Pajares, is one of three missionaries in isolation at the San Jose de Monrovia Hospital in Liberia who have tested positive for the virus, a Catholic humanitarian group said.There have now been at least 1,711 cases of Ebola this year, which has no proven vaccine or treatment, according to new figures released today by the World Health Organization.More than 932 people had died in Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia and Nigeria as of Monday. The WHO noted in particular that ‘community resistance remains high’ in Liberia.Many fearful family members are refusing to bring sick relatives to isolation centres, preferring to treat them at home and pray for their survival as no proven cure or treatment exists for Ebola.(dailymail.co.uk)Bakudaily.az