The Chief Medical Director of the University College Hospital (UCH), Professor Temitope Alonge has denied speculations that the hospital is treating an Ebola Virus patient.

Alonge while addressing journalists on Saturday in Ibadan said that the patient who was brought in early hours of Thursday was only discovered to have lassa fever and not ebola as speculated.

The UCH CMD who acknowledged that both Ebola and Lassa are of the same hemorrhagic fever explained that unlike Ebola, Lassa fever is treatable and manageable. He said the hospital has treated fifteen cases of lassa fever since 2011 with one survivor.

While allaying  the fears of the members of the public on the false report, the CMD stressed that the arrival of the index case in the country was not what spurred  preparations and awareness against contagious diseases by the hospital.

“Four days ago, a patient was admitted to West West three after she put to bed. It was observed that she was bleeding continuously after the delivery and there was the fear of what it could be. Test was carried out on her and it was discovered that she had developed fever after delivery. She died while undergoing treatment.

“Also, there was another case of a young driver who was brought in from Lagos unconsciously in the early hours of Thursday. The nurses on duty had to screen and test him but because he was unconscious, the test had to be conducted extensively. The efforts of the nurses revealed that the patient had jaundice but when assessment commenced, the diagnosis of the blood sample showed lassa fever. Immediately, the patient was moved to the e-tent from the triad bay for necessary treatments, but unfortunately, the patient died at about 8: 45pm Friday”, Alonge said

Alonge who disclosed that the hospital has successfully treated many cases of lassa fever, explained that the patient died as a result of severe complications which he had suffered before being brought to UCH.

The patient had earlier been rejected by all the hospitals he was taken to in Lagos before the journey to UCH.

Alonge said supervised  the treatment and situation of the patient before he  died.

He expressed satisfaction at the level of professionalism and care displayed by medical officers on hand to save the life of the patient, adding that  the doctors displayed high sense of safety and precaution in dealing the case

“The patient had developed system breakdown before getting to UCH but we tried our best. Our team of Doctors had packaged the corpse according to World Health Organisation, WHO standard on hemorrhagic fever and the relatives have been adequately informed,“ Alonge said.

Complimenting Alonge’s claim, Dr. Abass Gbolahan, Oyo state epidemiologist, reassured the people of the state that the state is free from any case of ebola. He reassured that the government will be willing to support the families of the lassa victim on the funeral according to WHO standards and such other ways to ensure that the fever is curtailed.