“You could be sitting next to someone who is infected and still not contract the virus.”
Then how did Patrick Sawyer (Nigeria patient 0) infect the Nigerian doctor sitting next to him on the flight? And then 18 others?
It was not people on the flight who contracted the Ebola, it was the contact with people on the ground when he collapsed in Lagos who were inadequately prepared.
When Sawyer landed at Murtala Mohammed airport on July 20, none of the bystanders, airport staff or health workers who rushed to help him understood the danger they were in.
No one had the full body protection of mask, suit and gloves that are essential to prevent contagion, so his ill advised journey gave the world’s worst Ebola outbreak a foothold in Africa’s most populous nation.
Sawyer died five days later, followed by one of the nurses who first treated him. Eight others are confirmed infected and receiving treatment, including a hospital doctor.
“Unfortunately nobody knew the status of this person, no one knew the kind of illness that he had, no one knew he was coming,” Lagos state health commissioner Jide Idris said. A health official said he had also been sick on the plane.
Sawyer was taken to First Consultants Hospital where, Idris said, he was treated “like any ordinary patient”.