Riyadh, Aug 6 (IANS): Saudi Arabia's first Ebola-infected patient died Wednesday in Jeddah despite being given treatment, a media report here said.
The 40-year-old male patient was in a critical condition when admitted to the ICU isolation ward Monday, the Saudi Press Agency said. The health ministry was following his case ever since he showed symptoms of hemorrhagic fever after a business trip to Sierra Leone.
The authority has also put all those who had been in direct contact with the patient under medical observation.
Ebola, which has killed over 800 people in West African countries, spreads through mucous and other body fluids or secretions such as stool, urine, saliva and semen of infected people.
A total of 1,603 infections and 887 deaths have been recorded in the Ebola-hit countries of Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, the World Health Organization said.