SEE: Ebola Scare In Abia State

Fear of the dreaded Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) swept across Abia State on Friday following the rumoured death of a woman said to have returned from Lagos with the killer disease virus.

It was reported that the woman whose name could not be ascertained as at press time and who was rumoured to be a relation of the nurse who died after treating the African-American Liberian, Patrick Sawyer who brought the disease to Nigeria, returned from Lagos to Umui- tigha, her husband's village in Isiala Ngwa South Local Government after being infected with the virus in Lagos.

The woman after showing signs of the dreaded disease was reportedly rejected in her husband's village, which made her to go to her village in Ndio- lumbe in the same Isiala Ngwa South Local Government.

Report has it that after sever- al attempts were made to save the woman's life by her im- mediate family failed; she was orstracised and later died near the popular Ndiolumbe market.

It was gathered that when the news of her death filtered into the area, members of the community and many shop owners around the area were forced to close for business and vacated the area for their safety.

Another version of the ru- mour had it that the woman was not dead, but that officials of the State Ministry of Health have visited the community, quarantined her and cordoned off the area.

Following the woman's rumoured death, fear has gripped most parts of the state as people resorted to drinking salty water and bathing with the same in the belief that it would stop the virus from affecting them.