Nigeria fears fourth Ebola frontline after infected man lands in Lagos
Officials in Africa’s most populous city are scrambling to avoid mistakes that have helped fuel biggest Ebola epidemic in history
Monica Mark in Lagos
The Guardian
Wednesday 13 August 2014
The man was acting strangely even before he boarded the plane, hunching over in pain and avoiding physical contact with other passengers milling around the airport in Monrovia, Liberia’s capital. Once airborne, he was sick several times. By the time he disembarked at Lagos airport – one of the busiest in the continent – he was no longer able to stand unaided, diplomats and a witness told the Guardian.
Those who rushed forward to help did not know Patrick Sawyer was in the final stages of an Ebola-induced breakdown, when the deadly disease is at its most contagious. More than 24 hours passed before the Liberian-American civil servant was diagnosed, allowing the virus to gain a toehold in Africa’s most populous city and, for the first time, turning the threat of an urban outbreak into a nightmarish possibility.
After watching three regional neighbours – Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone – battle an eight-monthepidemic, Nigerian officials are scrambling to contain a potential fourth frontline.
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