Heartbroken mother of Mr Patrick Sawyer, the 40-year-old man, who brought Ebola to Nigeia is demanding the ashes of his cremated son.
Sawyer’s remains were burnt after his death of Ebola in Lagos on July 25. Sawyer is Pictured with Sister who also died of Ebola
“I can’t stand it,”. “I can’t sleep. Every day I think about them,” Georgia Nah, told NBC 10 at her Southwest Philly home, United States.
Sawyer became ill just a few weeks after rushing to the bedside of his sick sister, 27-year-old Princess Nyuennyue, who was hospitalized in early July in Liberia, where she lived with her fiancée and son.
“I didn’t even know she was sick,” said Nah as she choked back tears.
Nyuennyue died July 7– one day after her brother visited her.
But hospital officials did not test the woman for Ebola until after her death – meaning her brother had no way of knowing he was exposed to the virus.
About two weeks after his sister’s death, Sawyer — in Liberia since 2008 for his work with the foreign government’s Ministry of Finance — was sent to Nigeria on assignment.
He collapsed as the plane touched down July 20 and was rushed to a hospital, where he was quarantined until his death five days later. He left behind a wife and three daughters, who he visited regularly at their home in Minnesota.
“My children were good children,” Nah said.
Nyennetue was buried in Liberia. But more than two weeks after Sawyer’s death, his family is still working to have his ashes returned to the states.
“At least send me something,” Nah said. “To know that here are the death certificates, the results of the Ebola. I don’t have anything.”
A memorial service for Patrick and his sister will be held in Philadelphia, United States on August 23.
Nearly 1,000 people have died so far in West Africa in what is believed to be the worst outbreak of Ebola in history, Tribune reports.
Symptoms of the disease are similar to those of flu, and include fever, weakness, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, vomiting, diarrhea, rash, and finally bleeding and death.
There is currently no vaccine or cure for the virulent disease.
The World Health Organization (WHO) Friday reiterated its position that the risk of transmission of Ebola virus disease during air travel remains low.
“Unlike infections such as influenza or tuberculosis, Ebola is not airborne,” says Dr Isabelle Nuttall, Director of WHO Global Capacity Alert and Response. “It can only be transmitted by direct contact with the body fluids of a person who is sick with the disease.”
“On the small chance that someone on the plane is sick with Ebola, the likelihood of other passengers and crew having contact with their body fluids is even smaller. Usually when someone is sick with Ebola, they are so unwell that they cannot travel. WHO is therefore advising against travel bans to and from affected countries.
“Because the risk of Ebola transmission on airplanes is so low, WHO does not consider air transport hubs at high risk for further spread of Ebola,” says Dr Nuttall.
Last week, after the meeting of the Ebola Emergency Committee under the International Health Regulations, WHO provided advice to countries to help contain the current Ebola outbreak and prevent it from spreading further. The guidance recommended:
