ebolaa As part of preventive measures against the Ebola
Virus Disease, EVD, the Federal Government has directed relevant authorities to
henceforth stop receiving corpses from the West African countries into the
country.
The government specifically banned the bringing of corpses
from the West African countries where the spread of EVD had been established.
It however said that there was no fresh case of Ebola virus disease in the
country.
The implication is that any Nigerian who dies in any of the
affected West African country would be buried there as the cost of keeping such
corpses in mortuaries until the EVD palaver settled could be very enormous. It
also means less expenses for such bereaved families who may have to bury their
loved ones in the said countries of West Africa.
On the heels of the Federal Government’s action was Anambra
State government which yesterday, directed the screening of corpses entering into
the state from any part of the country as part of it’s precautionary measures
against the dreaded disease.
However, there were mixed reactions to the advice by health
officials on Nigerians to avoid the consumption of bush meat so as not to
contract the dreaded Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, at Amasiri in Afikpo Local
Government Area of Ebonyi State, where the Health Minister, Onyebuchi Chukwu,
hails from.
70 contacts under monitoring At least 70 persons have been
identified to have had contact with the late Liberian, Mr. Patrick Sawyer who
died of EVD, in Lagos, just as the Lagos State government said that two earlier
identified persons who developed fever after having contact with Sawyer had
tested negative of the killer disease.
At separate news conferences yesterday, at Ikeja on the
update of Ebola case in the state, the Director, Nigeria Centre for Disease
Control, NCDC, Professor Abdulsalim Nasidi, the Lagos State Commis-sioner for
Health, Dr Jide Idris and Special Adviser to Governor Babtunde Fashola, Dr
Yewande Adeshina, at Alausa, said the Rapid Response Team, RRT, on the disease
was currently tracking all contacts of persons exposed to the passenger with
EVD.
Nasidi, who commended the Lagos State government for its
prompt response and pro-active measures so far, said that 75 percent of early
detected patients of EVD survived.
Nasidi explained: “All the guidelines we are using were
specified by the World Health Organisation, WHO. On the manifest concerning
Sawyer, the manifest we are waiting for included the manifest on the first
flight between Monrovia, Ghana and Lome… We have got some of the information
but there are some little gaps we are trying to fill. We are getting full
corporation from the airline operator.’’
On the corpse which arrived Anambra State from Liberia, they
said it came into the country through Air Gambia. It was received in Lagos on
July 21, 2014 and transported by road. It was received in a private mortuary.
“The FG has issued a directive that we will henceforth not
receive anybody or corpse from the West African coast especially from Liberia
and others that were on red alert for Ebola virus. Mechanisms are in place to
checkmate that. For instance, a plane was to come into the country with a
corpse but the port health officials rejected it. Our problem is the land
border.
“We are working in collaboration, the country will be
notified through the diplomatic channels that they should not allow any
transportation of any dead corpse into the country, so it is both side “But in
order to have effective monitoring, we held a meeting today (yesterday) and how
it will be done was stated. We shall be giving update on this very soon.
“All the handlers of the corpses brought into the country
from Liberia via Air Gambia will be registered and tracked and those who
accompanied the corpse to Anambra and the mortuary handlers are under
quarantine in Anambra State.
“Our team in Anambra State will tomorrow, (Today) give us
the statistics of those who came in contact with the corpse.
Two contact people with fever ‘’The two people tested
negative but that does not mean that we will stop. We will continue to place
them under observation until we are certified that they are free. They were
part of the 70 established contacts. First, it was 59, it increased to 69 and
yesterday (Thursday), we had another and this increased the number to 70.
Prevention:
‘’There is no specific treatment for Ebola virus. We treat
the symptoms. If we say that there is no cure, the patients will not come to
the hospital. There is no specific drug for Ebola virus. But we can use other
drugs to save an infected person.’’
Early detection percentage On early intervention, three out
of four cases survive but if they come late, one out of four survives.
Lagos Health Commissioner On his own, the Lagos State Health
Commissioner, Jide Idris, said the state government embarked on contact tracing
following the report to ensure that all contacts to an Ebola patient who
developed fever received care immediately and were separated from others to stop
spread of the disease, stressing that it is the best way to stop the spread of
the disease because contacts are not infective until symptoms start.
Meantime, Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, has
urged Federal Government to urgently shut some of the borders as part of
preventive measures against outbreak of EVD.
Fashola, who earlier spoke with Government House
Correspondents on the EVD in the state after returning from Lesser Hajj in
Saudi Arabia, harped on vigilance by governments at all levels and members of
the public.
According to him, “Few West African countries have been at
the epic center of the virus. I believe some of the countries are Sierra Leone,
Liberia and Guinea. There is a risk to the entire sub-region. I like to commend
all the health workers in the state for the very professional manner they have
responded while I was out of the country. “One must also commend the management
of First Consultant Health Centre for choosing life ahead of money. That is how
it should be. I must use this opportunity to appeal to all health institutions
to report suspects any such case.
“I believe what people must begin to do is to imbibe
stronger sanitation and preventive measures, especially hand-washing
periodically with soap and water. This has been part of our health strategy.
This was why we created the department of public health in 2011. This is the
emerging global health challenge.
“This is no longer a local, but an international problem
because it is easily transmittable across the borders and boundaries. The
Federal Government team has been working with the state team, I think what the
Federal Government needed to do at this time is to consider the imperative of
closing some of our borders.
“It is difficult to stop this epidemic, we must now choose
the treaty obligations that we hold under the ECOWAS treaty and perhaps short
term benefits in terms of economic cost to human life. We must make that choice
and consider it very seriously. It is a national security issue.
“I think we should give it that attention. I think men and
women who man our border posts-sea, air and land-especially the customs, now
know that they are our first line of defence. What happens going forward
depends on how professionally they act. It is prevention rather than calling
the health professionals to quarantine people.
“That is really the strongest defence now against migration
of the virus. We will continue to put out information about what the health
risks are and the symptoms. I have instructed the ministry to enlighten the
public on what to do in order not to contact the virus.
“This is also the best time to stop public urination,
because it has health risk. We have been appealing against it and this is the
best time to stop such act. This is the time that everyone must be at the
vanguard of stopping that untidy behaviour. For me, I think cremation has been
the best method.
“Dead bodies emit fluid. This showed that the cremation
policy of the state is the best solution to deal with the issue. This is a
health security and people must embrace contemporary hygiene standards. All the
residents who had contacts with the dead Liberian have been tested and the
result proved negative.
“But there is still risk because we had a dead body was
brought into the country from Liberia. This means there is still need for
vigilance at our border post. The officials at these places should act
professionally and report every incident they suspect.”
Ebola: Obiano directs screening of Anambra bound corpses as
Ebonyi indigenes question advice against eating of bush meat.
Source: Nigerian News
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