Nigerian in the Congo isolated without any Ebola symptom, simply because he travelled there from Nigeria

A Nigerian travelled to Congo on Monday this week. He was sent there by the multi national company where he works on an official assignment. His colleague who works in their Congo office received him at the airport and was taking him to his hotel when the Nigerian asked to stop at a pharmacy as he wasn't feeling too fine.


The Congolese asked a few probing questions about his condition; whether he had a fever, was vomiting etc to which the Nigerian said no. The Congolese, suggested further that he take the Nigerian to the hospital, to which the Nigerian also said he didn't need to. So, after dropping him off at his hotel room, he told the Nigerian that he would get a doctor to check on him.

A few hours after, while the Nigerian was resting, he received a phone call from Congo's health authorities saying that he had been isolated in his room on suspicion of carrying the Ebola virus! This was before any test was performed on him! He was also informed that a team would come to see him to assess his condition. The team arrived his room after two days on Wednesday! The team comprised four men fully kitted in hazmat suits. They took his temperature and other vitals. Everything was normal. Then they took his blood and told him that the result would be ready by in two days (by Friday). The hazmat suits sent hotel guests packing for fear of the virus.

Yesterday, Friday, the Nigerian received another call from the health authorities saying that the result would be ready next week Tuesday as they didn't have the facilities for testing for Ebola so, had to send the samples to Gabon for testing.

What nonsense! The guy would now stay for the whole of eight days in a hotel room in a foreign country just because he asked to go to a pharmacy and he's from Nigeria? Didn't the Congolese authorities hear the World Health Organisation's proclamation of Nigeria as an Ebola free country? Africa is indeed a third world continent with fourth world countries!

I really wish there was something more I could do in this pathetic case...