Ebola Sneaks Into Republic Of Benin, One Of The Isolated Patients Is Nigerian

Nigeria’s neighbor, the Republic of Benin, has registered 2 cases of what is believed to be Ebola virus.

As the medics are expecting laboratory results, the two patients have been quarantined. One of the those isolated is a Nigerian, PM News reports. The two have been admitted to different hospitals.

According to the official from Benin Ministry of Health, Moufalilou Aboubakar, the patients were being treated as those who had contracted the deadly tropical disease, which has already claimed hundreds of lives in Africa.

"We cannot say today that the virus is in Benin. The patients are in isolation and under observation pending the results of the ongoing tests."

If fears are panned out by the tests, Benin will become the 5th country affected by the virus ravaging the continent.

This year’s epidemic of Ebola is characterized as the most unprecedented in the disease history. Since February, nearly 1000 people have been killed by the EVD, with the majority of victims from Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

To Nigeria the virus was brought by the Liberian man, who arrived to Lagos Airport already with the symptoms. The man was rushed to the hospital where he died in two days. The nurse who attended the Liberian Patrick Sawyer contracted the disease and was recently confirmed dead.

It was yesterday reported that Patrick Sawyer might have known he had been infected with Ebola before boarding the plane to Nigeria. The Liberian media alleged this based on the video images from the airport before departure, as Sawyer exhibited "strange" behavior and avoided bodily contact with other passengers.

The Liberian government on Thursday apologized to Nigeria for bringing the deadly virus to the country. The Liberian President reportedly made a personal call to the Nigerian authorities to apologize for the unfortunate development.