A Saudi Arabian man suspected of having contracted the Ebola virus during a recent business trip to Sierra Leone died early on Wednesday, August 6, 2014 in Jeddah, the Health Ministry said.
Saudi authorities and international laboratories certified by the World Health Organization are testing samples from the man for Ebola and other diseases after he showed symptoms of viral hemorrhagic fever, the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said it was working to trace the man’s route of travel and identify people he was in contact with.
Ebola is one of the deadliest diseases known in humans with a fatality rate of up to 90 percent. The death rate in the current outbreak in West Africa, which has killed close to 900, and 2 in Nigeria.
The first Ebola case in Nigeria was in Lagos when a Liberian, Patrick Sawyer died shortly after arriving the country with the virus.
The second death was a nurse who cared for Sawyer, another doctor who cared for him is also ill with the deadly virus.
The Saudi kingdom has suspended pilgrimage visas from West African countries to counter the further possible spread of the disease.
