Nigeria records fourth Ebola death as US President Barack Obama steps in

US PRESIDENT Barack Obama has called West African leaders to discuss the Ebola outbreak, as the death toll in Nigeria rises to four.

US PRESIDENT Barack Obama has called his counterparts in Liberia and Sierra Leone to discuss the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, as the death toll in Nigera rose to four.

Nigeria had earlier confirmed an 11th case but health ministry spokesman Dan Nwomeh said that was an error due to “double counting”.

“We actually have four deaths now and six who are under treatment,” he said overnight.

The first fatality was Liberian government employee Patrick Sawyer, who brought the virus to Lagos, sub-Saharan Africa’s largest city, on July 20.

He died in hospital on July 25.

Precautions ... a Nigerian port health official wears protective gear at the arrivals hall of Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.

The other deaths include two medical workers who treated Sawyer at the First Consultants hospital in Lagos and an employee of the regional bloc known as ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) who met Sawyer at the airport when he landed.

As of Wednesday, according to the World Health Organisation, 1069 people had died of the disease since the start of the year when it spread from Guinea to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria, the last and most populous West African country to be affected.

As the death toll climbed, the US State Department ordered families of its diplomats in Sierra Leone to leave the country to avoid exposure to the disease.

“In his conversations with both leaders, the president underscored the commitment of the United States to work with Liberia, Sierra Leone, and other international partners to contain the outbreak and expressed his condolences for the lives lost,” the White House said.

Warnings ... an Ebola sign ebola outside a government hospital in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

In announcing the departure of families of US embassy staff in Sierra Leone, the State Department said it was acting “out of an abundance of caution”.

State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf cited “a lack of options for routine health care services at major medical facilities due to the Ebola outbreak.”

Mr Harf said the State Department was also “reconfiguring” its staff at the embassy in Freetown to “be more responsive” to the crisis ravaging the country.

On August 7, the United States ordered families of embassy staff out of Liberia due to the disease.