A Nigeria soldier who is a United Nations peacekeeper had reportedly tested positive of the dreaded Ebola Virus Disease in Liberia.
A Dutch health ministry spokeswoman Inge Freriksen, said on Friday, December 5, 2014 that he will be flown to the Netherlands for treatment this weekend and will go into isolation at the University Medical Center Utrecht.
This is the third infection for the mission, which comprises about 7,700 troops and police. The previous two died.
According to ABC News, sixteen people who came in contact with the Nigerian soldier have been quarantined, the mission said.
Ebola has infected more than 17,500 people, mostly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. About 6,200 have died.
Liberia has recorded the highest number of cases and deaths, but with infection rates stabilizing there, the government decided to go ahead with a Senate election this month and allowed campaign rallies. This week, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said those events are impeding efforts to contain Ebola and banned all public gatherings until 30 days after results of the December 16 election are announced.
There are concerns that the President may be using Ebola as an excuse after a large crowd rallied in support of former soccer star, George Weah, who is running against Sirleaf’s son, Robert.
A human rights lawyer Tiawan Gongloe, who was once a member of Sirleaf’s Cabinet said, “There is a clear political motive, and that political motive is in the interest of her son.”
The most recent outbreak of the disease is seen as the deadliest in history in West Africa. Ebola has symptoms that are similar to other more common diseases, like malaria, and many people who have shown up at Ebola treatment centers have turned out to be sick with something else.
