Nigeria's first suspected case of ebola has died in a Lagos hospital.
A VOA Hausa Service reporter in Lagos reports that the patient, 40-year-old Patrick Sawyer from Liberia, died Friday in the health facility where he had been kept in isolation for several days.
There was no immediate confirmation that Sawyer was killed by ebola. The Lagos State Ministry of Health said Thursday it was awaiting the results of laboratory tests on his blood samples.
It urged residents of Lagos, Nigeria's most populous city, to remain calm.
Sawyer, who was a Liberian finance ministry official, was hospitalized soon after arriving on a flight from Monrovia on July 20.
The health ministry said there was no indication he had come into contact with the ebola virus, but noted that he had ebola-like symptoms and had traveled from Liberia, one of three West African countries where an ebola epidemic has killed hundreds of people this year.
On Friday, the World Health Organization said the epidemic has now killed 660 people in West Africa - 314 in Guinea, 219 in Sierra Leone and 127 in Liberia.
Nearly 1,100 cases of ebola have been reported, but that number could rise quickly if the virus begins spreading in Nigeria - especially in Lagos, home to more than 17 million people.
The disease has spread despite containment measures by regional health officials, including the isolation of suspected ebola patients and warnings to avoid any physical contact with those infected by the virus.
Cultural practices such as caring for patients at home and family burials for those killed by the disease have undermined containment efforts.
There is no cure or vaccine for ebola, whose symptoms include fever, vomiting, diarrhea and bleeding from the eyes, ears, mouth and nose.
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