BEVERLY HILLS, August 06, (THEWILL) –Â A Saudi national who recently visited Sierra Leone for business has died in a Jeddah hospital where he was being treated for Ebola-like symptoms.
The Saudi Ministry of Health said the 40-year-old man who had been tested for the deadly disease died from cardiac arrest in an isolated ward in the hospital. The Ministry was however silent on the result of the Ebola test conducted on the man.
It said the man would be buried according to Islamic tradition.
This is the first report of an Ebola-related death outside the shores of Africa. The World Health organization (WHO) says the disease which presently has no cure has killed 932 persons in Sierra Leone, Liberia Guinea and Nigeria.
Nigeria today reported the death of a nurse who treated Patrick Sawyer, the now deceased infected Liberian-American man that brought the virus to Lagos, Nigeria a few days ago. So far, two Ebola deaths have occurred in Nigeria while five other persons that had primary contact with Sawyer have shown symptoms of the disease where they are being treated in isolation, Nigerian health officials said Wednesday.
Saudi authorities have stopped issuing visas to pilgrims from some West African countries following the outbreak of Ebola.
World Health Organization (WHO) experts are holding a two-day meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, to determine an appropriate response to the outbreak.
