NAN – A 35-year-old Nigerian woman who died in Abu Dhabi on Aug. 15 after showing possible symptoms of Ebola has tested negative to the virus.
A top official of Nigerian Embassy in United Arab Emirates (UAE), who spoke on the condition of anonymity, confirmed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
According to the official, the local health authorities have already informed the mission of their findings.
On Sunday, a Nigerian woman who was travelling to India from Lagos via Abu Dhabi for cancer treatment, died in the Emirati capital.
It was reported that the health of the patient, who was travelling with her husband, deteriorated while on transit and she died when medics tried to resuscitate her.
Later, the Emirati health authority said the patient showed signs of Ebola.
Her 35-year-old husband and the five medics who had direct contact with her were isolated pending the result of the Ebola test on the patient.
The mission official said that: “As at Aug. 17, the local authorities were still asking us to grant permission for immediate burial and we resisted that pressure because the results of the tests were unknown.
“The woman’s husband was pressured too, but we are satisfied that the results are out and the tests proved negative.’’
On Wednesday, the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, announced that Nigeria has recorded five Ebola deaths out of 12 confirmed cases since July 20.
According to the minister, five Ebola patients have been discharged and the health authorities are attending to two patients in an isolation centre in Lagos.
WHO says the global death toll from Ebola virus has exceeded 1,300 from Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.
