CHINIOT: The man, who was earlier suspected as Ebola patient and died at the Allied Hospital in Faisalabad on Tuesday, was buried in Chiniot amid tight security and by the health professionals wearing gloves and masks.

The family of the deceased was also quarantined.

Zulfiqar Ameen who returned from Togo, West Africa, on Nov 16 died at the Allied Hospital, Faisalabad, after being in a quarantine and treated for suspected Ebola, dengue, and congo fever.

The health officials have also quarantined the family of deceased Ameen and sealed his house.

District Health Officer Dr Mushtaq Bashir told Dawn Ameen was suffering from Hepatitis-C, dengue and hemorrhage fever.

PROFILE: According to the family, Zulfiqar Ameen was a furniture artisan and worked in Karachi for 15 years. Three years ago, he with his friends went to West Africa for furniture work and settled there. In the beginning of November, he suffered from fever and finally returned to Chiniot 10 days ago.

On arrival, he was very much weak and sick. He was admitted to the Chiniot District Headquarters Hospital to be referred to Allied Hospital. He was put in isolation in the Allied Hospital where he died.

His body was brought to Chiniot amid strict security.

He was buried under tight supervision of the administration and health department officials. His corpse was wrapped in a plastic sheet and was buried without ghusal or bath.

PANIC and RUMOUR: The city was rife with speculation and under panic because of security arrangements and the sealing of the house of the deceased.

When reporters tried to make footage of the funeral, the heirs resisted them.

The people said they were scared of the fact the deceased had arrived from West Africa and that his family had been put in isolation.

Also, the Directorate General of Health and the World Health Organization teams arrived in Chiniot and got blood samples of Ameen’s widow, four sons and one daughter. They also took blood samples of DHQ hospital staffers who had treated him.

The activity made the people panic and they were seen discussing the reports of certain TV channels that the WHO had declared Zulfiqar Ebola negative.

Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2014