FAISLABAD: A patient suspected to be suffering from Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) died at Allied Hospital in Faisalabad on Tuesday.
Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif has taken notice of this case and directed health authorities to investigate the matter and submit a report immediately.
The deceased, Zulfiqar Ahmad, 40, a resident of Chiniot district, had returned to Pakistan from the sub-Saharan nation of Togo on November 16. Initially, he was hospitalised at the District Headquarters Hospital, Chiniot, for treatment of multiple health conditions.
His condition, however, didn’t improve and subsequently his family had admitted him to Faisalabad’s Allied Hospital where medics, after initial diagnostic tests, said it might be a case of Ebola virus.
Talking to media persons, Dr Rashid Maqbool at the Allied Hospital said that the patient’s blood samples had been sent to the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islamabad for laboratory tests and it would take at least two weeks for the results to arrive.
The Ebola outbreak has killed more than 5,000 people in its latest outbreak in West Africa, especially in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.
A World Health Organisation mission arrived on Monday to assess arrangements made by the government to keep Ebola virus out of the country.
During its stay for a week, the mission will visit Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi airports and other entry points. It will assess arrangements to deal with an affected person arriving in the country. INP
