Cured Ebola patient returns to Liberia

A Nigerian Ebola patient who was cured in the Netherlands has returned to Liberia, the Dutch ministry of foreign affairs has told Xinhua.

The Nigerian soldier of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Liberia (UNMIL) was the first Ebola patient treated in the Netherlands since the outbreak in West Africa this year. He was admitted to the Emergency Hospital UMC Utrecht Dec 6, where he was nursed in strict isolation by specially trained medical personnel.

The Dutch foreign ministry announced last Friday that the Nigerian was healed, with specific laboratory tests confirming that the man was no longer contagious. The patient was then transferred to the Central Military Hospital, part of the ministry of defence. He stayed there until his repatriation.

"During the treatment in the UMC Emergency Hospital and the Central Military Hospital in Utrecht, the patient received dozens of messages of support from strangers and drawings of children who wished him a speedy recovery," the Dutch foreign ministry stated Tuesday.

"This touched him deeply. He is very grateful for his recovery in The Netherlands and now he looks forward to seeing his wife and children again."

The Netherlands is ready to treat more Ebola patients for humanitarian purposes.

"We have four beds available for rescue workers at the UMC," foreign ministry spokeswoman Marjolein Busstra told Xinhua Tuesday. "Upon request by the United Nations or the World Health Organisation (WHO), we make these beds available."

The Dutch Health Care Inspectorate (IGZ) had already concluded that the Netherlands and all eight university medical centres in the country were well prepared for a possible case of Ebola in the country.

The chance of a traveller bringing the disease to the Netherlands is very limited, but not entirely impossible, according to the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment.