Ebola
The Ebola virus has killed close to 1,000 people in West Africa since February, 2014. [Representational Picture]Reuters

The Nigerian nurse, who contracted Ebola virus while treating American Patrick Sawyer, has reportedly succumbed to the disease.

The death of the health worker is the first known case of Ebola fatality in Nigeria.

Local news source Business Day reported that the death of the nurse in Lagos was announced by the Nigerian Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu.

The nurse was among the several people who had come in contact with Liberian government worker Patrick Sawyer, a former Minnesota resident - who fell sick after arriving in Lagos via air and died on 25 July.

Reports from Nigeria claim that there are a total of eight Ebola cases in the country now. Al Jazeer America reported that all eight people came into contact with Sawyer.

This comes a day after reports emerged that a New York City hospital was testing a man with complaints of high fever and stomach ache, after returning from a trip from a West African country. 

However, Dr. Jeremy Boal, chief medical officer of the Mount Sinai Health System, played down the possibility.

"Odds are this is not Ebola. It's much more likely that it's a much more common condition," CNN quoted him.

On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia also announced that it had quarantined a man after he showed symptoms of the hemorrhagic fever, following a recent trip to Sierra Leone. The 40-year-old is said to be in a critical condition, the Daily Mail reported.

In its recent update, the World Health Organization reported that number of deaths due to Ebola in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia has risen to 887.