S. Africa’s 1st Ebola Victim Dies
The first victim of the deadly Ebola virus in South Africa has died.
Regional health authorities said Marilyn Lahana, 46, a nurse who contracted the disease after treating a doctor from Gabon, died late Sunday.
The doctor, Clement Mambana, had been hospitalized with an unidentified fever in October. When he recovered and was discharged Nov. 11, the Ebola was undiagnosed.
But blood samples later revealed his fever had been brought on by the virus.
A German news agency, Deutsche Presse-Agentur, said Monday that the doctor “survived the disease because he had developed an immunity” and has returned to Gabon.
Lahana became ill early this month and was found to have Ebola, which killed more than 240 people in Zaire last year.
Ebola can be transmitted through bodily fluids and secretions, and causes massive internal bleeding, diarrhea and vomiting.
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