One of the nurses who attended Patrick Sawyer, the first Ebola victim in Nigeria, has died.

Health Minister Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu made this known in Abuja August 6, Punch reports. He also revealed that 5 other medical practitioners involved in treatment contracted the virus.

“Nigeria has now recorded seven confirmed cases of Ebola Virus Disease. The first one was the index case, which is the imported case from Liberia of which the victim is now late. Yesterday, 5th August, 2014, the first known Nigerian to die of the EVD was recorded and this was one of the nurses that attended to the Liberian. The other five cases are currently being treated at the Isolation Ward in Lagos.”

Sawyer, a US citizen was travelling from Liberia, the center of Ebola epidemic, to Nigeria and was admitted to a Lagos hospital where he died from the symptoms of the deadly disease last month.

Two days ago the case of infection was confirmed by the Nigerian officials: the health worker contracted  the disease while treating Sawyer.

Since February the deadly virus has claimed more than 700 lives in West Africa, mostly Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, and keeps spreading in the continent.

The US are reportedly soon to launch testing of the experimental Ebola vaccine to make it available as soon as possible.

Meanwhile the Nigerian Federal Government on August 4 set up a special committee to carry out research on the EVD, to receive and verify claims relating to Ebola treatment, so as to analyze the Ebola-related researches worldwide.

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