WHO Worker Infected With Ebola as Congo Confirms Two Deaths, Nigeria Confirms Two New Cases

The World Health Organization announced one worker is infected with Ebola in Sierra Leone. Ebola killed almost 1,500 people in Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia since the beginning of the year. Unfortunately, the disease is still rampant.

WHO did not release personal information about the worker, but confirmed the patient is an epidemiologist. CNN said the patient is a man from Senegal. There is no information how the patient received the disease, but is “receiving the best care possible. A person can only contract Ebola through bodily fluids such as blood or saliva. Sierra Leone recorded 910 Ebola cases and 392 deaths.

A British national infected with Ebola in Sierra Leone will return to Britain on a jet from the Royal Air Force. Britain’s Health Department said London’s Royal Free Hospital will treat the patient in “an isolation unit for infectious disease.”

Congo Health Minister Feliz Kabange Numbi said two people in the country died from Ebola. He also claims Congolese officials “believe Ebola killed 13 people in the region, including five health workers.” If these findings are true they will be the first Congo victims from this Ebola outbreak. Numbi said the Ebola strain in his country is a different strain. There are five strains of Ebola, four of which infect humans. The blood tests allegedly came from a region where hemorrhagic gastroenteritis killed 70 people. WHO said Ebola was not found in the area.

On Friday, Nigeria confirmed two new cases of Ebola. The two new patients are spouses who were in direct contact with Liberian-American doctor Patrick Sawyer, “who brought Ebola into the country.” Nigeria’s Health Ministry said the patients are in an isolation ward with two other patients. Nigeria now has fourteen reported Ebola cases with five deaths and five recoveries.

WHO reported 221 new cases of Ebola and 106 deaths between August 17 and 18 in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. In total, there are 2,473 confirmed cases and 1,350 deaths in the three countries.