LIBERIA UNCIVIL WAR PART II

Mr. Eric Thomas Duncan

It has been revealed to TMZ Liberia Magazine that the patient now identified as the first person to test positive for the deadly Ebola Virus Disease, is Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian national. Mr. Duncan is said to have traveled to the United States on an invitation by his girlfriend Louise Troh who is an American citizen. The victim left Liberia on the 19th of September and arrived in the United States the next day. He started to show signs of the virus four days after he arrived in the US. 

Louise is said to have lived in the US for almost 15 years before sending for Thomas who father a son. Her pastor in Texas said that Mr. Duncan came to the US for both of them to get marry. Our source also revealed about five children resided in the home of the victim and suspected that Mr. Eric Thomas Duncan may have known that he was infected with the virus, but failed to disclose detail information to hospital staff. It was also confirmed that the victim visited the hospital numerous times before the symptom was detected.

Message posted on his Facebook page also shows that others may have known that he was sick. What is not clear is whether Mr. Duncan knew that he may have had the virus.

Currently, the contact tracing team is calling people who want to visit the infected victim when he arrived in the United States. Officials at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital say the unidentified patient is being kept in isolation. 

Attempts made to gather more information about the case have yielded no result as the hospital officials are tight-lipped about the case, citing privacy concerns. Our source who wishes to remain anonymous for fear of losing their job disclosed to TMZ Liberia Magazine that four hospital staff has already lost their job for posting information relating to the incident on social media. 

More than 3,000 people have already died of Ebola in West Africa and a small number of US aid workers have recovered after being flown to the US. Shortly after the news broke Tuesday evening, more than 50,000 tweets about Ebola flew through Twitter in a one-hour period, many of them panicked responses.

According to Dr Frieden, it is possible a family member who came in direct contact with the patient may develop Ebola in the coming weeks.

But "the bottom line here is I have no doubt that we will control this importation, this case of Ebola, so it does not spread widely in this country," he added. "We will stop it here."

The World Health Organization (WHO) says more than 3,000 people has died of the virus so far, mostly in Liberia.

Earlier on Tuesday, the head of a new UN body set up to fight the disease urged more action within the next 60 days.

Anthony Banbury told reporters in Ghana that 70% of infected people needed to be receiving treatment and 70% of burials should be done safely within two months.


Story by: Al-Hussein 
hussein.fadiga@gmail.com