Nigeria confirms new Ebola case in Lagos: minister

Nigeria on Monday confirmed a new case of Ebola in the financial capital Lagos, bringing the total number of people in the country with the virus to 10.
     
Health minister Onyebuchi Chukwu said the latest confirmed case was a female nurse who came into contact with a Liberian-American man, Patrick Sawyer, who died of Ebola in a Lagos hospital on July 25.
      
In addition to Sawyer, another nurse who had contact with him died last week, while seven other people have been confirmed to have the virus in the city, he added.
      
"The 10th case actually was one of the nurses who also had primary contact with the index case. When he (Sawyer) got ill, we then brought her into isolation," the minister told a news conference in Abuja.
      
"We just tested her over the weekend. So, that's what made it 10. So, between Friday and today we had one additional case. That brings it to 10 and the 10 includes the index case."       

Chukwu said the nurse was currently undergoing treatment while her husband was under surveillance.
      
The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday there were 13 probable and suspect cases of Ebola, including two deaths, in Nigeria.
      
The minister did not comment on the discrepancy in the figures.
      
The WHO is discussing the possible use of an experimental treatment to try to stem the spread of the deadly virus, which has claimed nearly 1,000 lives in four West African countries this year.
      
Nigeria has announced a number of measures to curb the spread of Ebola, including the declaration of a national emergency in line with WHO advice to trigger disaster response procedures.
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