Tuesday, October 14, 2014

UN worker who contracted Ebola in Liberia dies in German hospital-BBC

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10/14/14, "Ebola outbreak: UN worker dies in Germany hospital," BBC

"A UN employee infected with Ebola has died at a hospital in Germany.

Doctors at the hospital in Leipzig said the man, 56, died in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The outbreak has killed more than 4,000 people since March - mostly in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria.

The World Health Organization described it as the "the most severe, acute health emergency seen in modern times". The US and UK are among countries to have introduced scanning at airports.

The man had been working as a UN medical official in Liberia - one of the worst affected countries by the outbreak - when he caught Ebola. 

Temperature checks
 
He arrived in Germany last Thursday for treatment and was put into a special isolation unit.

"Despite intensive medical measures and maximum efforts by the medical team, the 56-year-old UN employee succumbed to the serious infectious disease," a statement from St Georg hospital said.

The patient, who is yet to be identified, was Sudanese, AFP news agency reports quoting local sources.

He was the third Ebola patient to be treated for the deadly virus in Germany after contracting the disease in the outbreak zone in West Africa.

One patient is still receiving treatment in a hospital in Frankfurt, while a third was released from a hospital in Hamburg after five weeks of treatment.

Health workers are among those most at risk of catching the disease, with more than 90 killed by the virus in Liberia alone.

Many nurses and medical assistants there have ignored calls to strike over pay and working conditions.

The UK has announced screening for passengers arriving at London's Heathrow airport from countries at risk.

People arriving from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea will be questioned and may have their temperatures taken.

The US is already screening passengers at five of its major airports."


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