The late Dr Stella Ameyo Adadevoh, the Nigerian physician who prevented the wide spread of the Ebola virus in Nigeria in 2014, has been posthumously conferred with national honours.
Adadevoh was among the 447 distinguished Nigerians and foreigners honoured with different National Honours at an event held at the International Conference Centre in Abuja.
The iconic Dr Adadevoh, who died on August 19, 2014, placed the index patient, Patrick Sawyer, a Liberian, who was in the country for an Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) programme, in quarantine at the detriment of her own life.
Stella Adadevoh was born on October 27, 1956, in Lagos, Nigeria. Her father, Babatunde Kwaku Adadevoh, was a physician, professor of chemical pathology, and the former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos. Her grandfather, Herbert Macauley, was a distinguished scientist and one of the founders of modern Nigeria. She was also the grand-niece of Nnamdi Azikiwe, a great great granddaughter of Sara Forbes Bonetta, and a great great great granddaughter of Ajayi Crowther.
She completed her fellowship in endocrinology at Hammersmith Hospital, London. After this, she returned to Nigeria, working as the Lead Consultant Physician and Endocrinologist at First Consultants Medical in Lagos for 21 years.
On July 20, 2014, a Liberian-American attorney, Patrick Sawyer, arrived in Lagos from Monrovia, Liberia. He was heading to a conference on economic development in Calabar and collapsed at the airport.
Patrick Sawyer was then taken to First Consultant Medical Center, where he was diagnosed with malaria by one of the doctors. Although no Nigerian doctor had seen a case of Ebola before, Dr. Adadevoh suspected the patient might have been exposed to the highly contagious virus and subsequently ordered blood tests to confirm her suspicion.
Dr. Adadevoh then alerted the Nigerian health ministry while awaiting test results. Although Liberian government officials pressured her to let the patient attend, and she was even threatened with lawsuits, Dr. Adadevoh stood firm, stating that she would not release the patient “for the greater public good.”
The test results came back positive for the Ebola virus, making Patrick Sawyer Nigeria’s first Ebola virus case. Despite a lack of protective equipment, Dr. Adadevoh created a wooden barricade outside Patrick Sawyer’s room to serve as a form of Isolation. She also informed the other health professionals in the hospital about the virus and procured protective equipment.
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