The Minister
of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, on Monday said one of the doctors that
treated the Liberian-born American, Patrick Sawyer, who died of the Ebola disease, had contracted the virus.
Chukwu made
this known in Abuja as Reuters news agency quoted the Geneva-based World Health
Organisation as saying in a statement that Nigeria had four cases, of which
three were classed as ‘probable’ Ebola and one as ‘suspected.’
The death
toll from the Ebola outbreak, according to WHO, rose
from 729 to 887 by August 1. The total number of cases in the four West
African countries affected is now 1,603.
Sawyer, who
arrived at the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos on July 20, died at an Obalende
hospital five days after.
Chukwu said,
‘‘This is now the second case of Ebola virus disease in Nigeria. This victim is
one of the doctors who attended to the patient who brought Ebola virus to
Nigeria.’’
He also told
journalists in Abuja that ‘‘about eight other persons who came into contact
with Sawyer, and who had developed the Ebola symptoms, had been quarantined
while 70 others were under surveillance.’’
The minister
said, “All those who came into contact with the late Sawyer depending on the
level of contact are still being traced and being invited every day and they
are placed under surveillance just to ensure that the spread of disease is
curtailed.”
He added
that the Federal Government was currently reinforcing the technical working
group on Ebola to include 35 state governments. Lagos State already has a TWG.
The minister
allayed the fears being expressed by
the public about the corpses that were brought into Anambra and Imo
states from some countries which already had records of the deadly disease.
He said,
“Medical records have proved that the corpse taken to Imo State was not
carrying Ebola while test is being carried out on the one taken to Anambra
State.
‘‘We are
collaborating with all the state governments to establish isolation wards for
persons proven symptomatic to Ebola and a 24- hour emergency operation centre.”
The minister
also on Monday inaugurated an Ebola Treatment and Research Group with a mandate
to carry out an extensive research into the Ebola virus.
Chukwu said
the group would receive and verify claims on Ebola cure; collate and analyse
researches on the virus and advise the government as may be appropriate.
The group,
according to the minister, has the Director – General of the Nigerian Institute
of Pharmaceutical Research and Development and the Director-General of the
Nigerian Institute of Medical Research as chairmen.
He added
that the Nigerian researcher, who had found evidence of Bitter Kola inhibiting
the growth of Ebola virus, Prof. Maurice Iwu ,and the Director-General of the
Nigerian Centre for Disease Control are also members of the group. Iwu was also
a former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Chukwu said,
“Although the research on bitter kola was not concluded, no progress can be
made without research. For now, there is no scientifically proven vaccine or
drug for the treatment of Ebola.”
He assured
the public that the Federal Government was doing everything to stop the outbreak of the disease but
enjoined everybody to embrace good hygiene by constantly washing their hands.
Also on
Monday, the President of the Medical and Dental Consultants Association of
Nigeria, Dr. Steven Oluwole, said
that only one authentic case of Ebola had been documented in Nigeria.
He added that “the risk to all contacts of the
case are theoretically unlikely to be uniform.”
Oluwole
stressed the need for tracing, screening,
follow-up on all contacts and
effective control at Nigerian borders
as means of checking the spread of the virus.
He described
the virus as “a filovirus, which is
transmitted to humans from contact with infected wild animals, or consumption
of their raw or undercooked meat.”
The
scientist listed the susceptible animals
as fruit bats, monkeys, chimpanzees and antelopes.
He noted
that human to human transmission primarily occurs through contact with body
fluids of infected persons, adding that skin and mucous membranes are the main
routes of entry.
Infected
doctor is not dead –FG
Just minutes
after Chukwu and Oluwole spoke, there were rumours that the doctor who treated
Sawyer had died.
The rumour
was quickly dismissed by the Director, Centre for Disease Control, Abuja, Prof.
Abdulsalami Nasidi.
Nasidi told journalists in Lagos that the doctor
had been quarantined and was presently receiving treatment .
He said,
,”We will not be able to release the name of the new contact; but we know that
the person is a doctor and a female. The patient is not dead. She is alive.
Experts from the local and international organisations are attending to the
patient.”
Lagos plans
another isolation centre, may isolate 10 people
In Lagos,
The PUNCH gathered that the state government had begun renovating another
centre at the Mainland Infectious Diseases Hospital, Yaba , to isolate and accommodate
some of the people that had direct contact with the late Sawyer.
A reliable
source, who is also on the team of experts monitoring the testing and
surveillance of persons who came into contact with Sawyer, said the building would give more room for
them to contain possible infections.
He said, “
We are presently renovating another building at the hospital, so that we can
isolate more contacts. This is now important with the recent development. We
need to increase vigilance on surveillance on persons who came in contact with
him.
“For now, we
are looking at isolating at least 10 people that had first contact with him
(Sawyer). This is in line with the stated guidelines for the monitoring of the
virus by the World Health Organisation.”
The source
added that the state government might earmark the Lagos State University
Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, as another hospital for isolated persons.
It was
learnt that this caused panic among
health workers and patients at LASUTH.
A nurse who
spoke on condition of anonymity with one of our correspondents, expressed fears
that the plan might lead to an outbreak of the disease in the hospital.
She said,
“We have been told that it is possible that they may bring in more people that
came into contact with him (Sawyer) here. We are scared that LASUTH may not be
the best place to bring anybody who may have contracted an highly infectious
disease like Ebola. There is too much exposure for us, the health workers and
other patients who come to the hospital.”
Earlier, the
state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, appealed to striking doctors
under the aegis of the Nigerian Medical Association to call off their strike
and join the government to fight the Ebola virus.
He said
the government would be offering
incentives to any health worker who volunteered to work with the team of
doctors treating any infected person.
Idris said,
“ We also welcome volunteers from the health profession and those who do so
shall be given incentives. We also appeal to residents to support the
government in fighting the scourge by being cautious.
‘‘As of
today, one person out of the eight people who came into contact with the late
victim of Ebola has tested positive. The state has established isolation and
treatment centre for the patient.
“The members
of staff at this centre have also been trained on how to treat and handle patients under their care. The hospital is
also provided with enough facilities to ensure that the officials and other
patients do not contact the virus.
“The
patients under our surveillance were those who came into contact with the late
Liberian-American. And the rapid response team has been in communication with
these patients who developed fever and other symptoms.
“We will not
stop in tracking all those who came into
contact with Mr. Sawyer. They remain in isolation until the confirmatory
results are in and those who test positive for the virus will remain in
isolation until they are no longer infectious.”
FCTA advises
residents
In Abuja, the
Federal Capital Territory Administration
called on the residents to be
vigilant and to report any suspicious
case to a health facility nearest to them.
The FCTA
Secretary, Health and Human Services Secretariat, Dr. Demola Onakomaiya, made
the call at an emergency meeting with the management staff of the secretariat
on the preparedness of the FCTA to tackle the
disease.
Noting that
Ebola virus could be devastating to families and communities, he said it could
be controlled through the use of recommended protective measures.
Airlines
operators to introduce masks, gloves
Meanwhile,
the upsurge of the Ebola virus has been giving airline operators sleepless
nights.
Investigations showed that officials of the airlines have
been busy working on measures to ensure
the safety of their passengers and crew
members.
One of such
strategies, The PUNCH learnt on Monday,
is to have their cabin crew members wear gloves permanently in both local and
international flights.
In addition,
cabin crew members might wear masks to cover their mouths and noses,
especially during international flights.
This,
according to one of the airline officials, is to reduce the risk of spreading or contracting
the disease.
He said, “We
are concerned because this Ebola issue is a serious one and all eyes are on the
aviation industry. We the operators are on our toes also because it is risky
for our officials who are on duty on a daily basis. The issue of gloves may
soon be mandatory for everybody and we are still looking at other options.”
US to send
50 experts to W’Africa
The United States has said it will in the next
30 days send 50 health experts to West
Africa to help contain the Ebola outbreak.
The director
of the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Tom Frieden, who made
this known in a statement, described the Ebola outbreak as “ the biggest and most complex in history.”
He said, “It
will take many months, and it won’t be easy, but Ebola can be stopped. We know
what needs to be done. CDC is surging our response, sending 50 additional
disease control experts to the region in the next 30 days.”
Trial drug
sent to US Ebola victims in Liberia
A
representative of the US National Institutes of Health is said to have
contacted the Samaritan’s Purse in Liberia and offered an experimental
treatment, known as ZMapp, for the two American patients who had contracted the
virus.
Dr. Kent
Brantly and Nancy Writebol, who work with the Samaritan’s Purse, an aid
organisation, were believed to have contracted the virus from another health
care worker in a Liberian hospital.
ZMapp was
developed by the biotech firm, Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc.
Brantly and
Writebol were told that ZMapp which was developed by the biotech firm, Mapp
Biopharmaceutical Inc., had never been tried before in a human being but that
it had shown promise in small
experiments with monkeys.
WHO said in
its statement on Monday that Guinea has suffered the highest death toll with
358 fatalities out of 485 confirmed Ebola cases so far. Sierra Leone has had
the largest number of cases, 646 overall, and 273 deaths, while Liberia has had
468 cases and 255 deaths.
Who said
apart from Sawyer’s, the other probable Ebola cases in Nigeria were a
health-care worker and a Nigerian who had been to Guinea.
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