Health Highlights: Aug. 5, 2014

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Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:

First Ebola Death Reported in Nigeria

Nigeria has reported its first known death linked to the Ebola outbreak afflicting Africa.

The victim was a nurse in Lagos who took care of Liberian government worker Patrick Sawyer, who became sick from Ebola virus infection after he arrived on a flight to Lagos. Sawyer died on July 25, Bloomberg News reported.

Five other people with Ebola are being treated in Lagos, Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu said in a statement given to reporters Wednesday.

Nigeria may try to obtain the experimental Ebola treatment given to two Americans who were infected with the disease in Liberia, Lagos Health Commissioner Jide Idris said Tuesday, Bloomberg reported.

So far, 887 people have died in the Ebola outbreak affecting a number of African nations. Most of the cases are in the West African countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Nigeria does not share a border with any of those three nations.

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Injured Alzheimer’s Caregivers Can’t Sue Patients: Court

Alzheimer’s disease patients are not liable for injuries they may inflict on paid in-home caregivers, the California Supreme Court ruled in a 5-2 decision.

The case involved a home health aid who was injured while trying to restrain a client, the Associated Press reported.

In Monday’s ruling, the court said people hired to care for Alzheimer’s patients should know that agitation and physical aggression are common in the later stages of the disease. Therefore, it would be inappropriate to permit caregivers who are injured by clients to sue their employers.

“It is a settled principle that those hired to manage a hazardous condition may not sue their clients for injuries caused by the very risks they were retained to confront,” Justice Carole Corrigan wrote for the majority, the AP reported.

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