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Tag: Ebola outbreak

  • Hope for Ebola victims as drugs show 90% survival rate

    A trial of two drugs has shown that Ebola may soon be a preventable and treatable disease. The trial showed significantly improved survival rates, scientists have said.

    Four drugs were trialled on patients in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where there is a major outbreak of the virus.

    More than 90% of infected people can survive if treated early with the most effective drugs, the research showed.

    The drugs will now be used to treat all patients with the disease in DR Congo, according to health officials.

    Yesterday, two people cured of Ebola using the experimental drugs were released from a treatment centre in Goma, eastern DR Congo, and reunited with their families.

    The US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which co-sponsored the trial, said the results are “very good news” for the fight against Ebola.

    The drugs, named REGN-EB3 and mAb114, work by attacking the Ebola virus with antibodies, neutralising its impact on human cells.

    They are the “first drugs that, in a scientifically sound study, have clearly shown a significant diminution in mortality” for Ebola patients, said Dr Anthony Fauci, director of NIAID.

    REGN-EB3 and mAb114 were developed, using antibodies harvested from survivors of Ebola, which has killed more than 1,800 people in DR Congo in the past year.

    Two other treatments, called ZMapp and Remdesivir, have been dropped from trials as they were found to be less effective.

    The trial, conducted by an international research group co-ordinated by the World Health Organization (WHO), began in November last year.

    Since then, four experimental drugs have been tested on around 700 patients, with the preliminary results from the first 499 now known.

    Of the patients given the two more effective drugs, 29 per cent on REGN-EB3 and 34 per cent on mAb114 died, NIAID said.

    In contrast, 49% on ZMapp and 53 per cent on Remdesivir died in the study, the agency said.

    The survival rate among patients with low levels of the virus in their blood was as high as 94 per cent when they were given REGN-EB3, and 89% when on mAb114, the agency said.

    The findings mean health authorities can “stress to people that more than 90 per cent of people survive”, if they are treated early, said Sabue Mulangu, an infectious-disease researcher who worked on the trial.

    Hailing the success of the study, Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust global health charity, said the treatments would “undoubtedly save lives”.

    Read Also: Ebola: Death toll in DRC rises to 1,540 — WHO

    The findings, Mr Farrar said, indicate scientists are getting closer to turning Ebola into a “preventable and treatable” disease.

    “We won’t ever get rid of Ebola but we should be able to stop these outbreaks from turning into major national and regional epidemics,” he added.

    A sense that Ebola is incurable, paired with widespread mistrust of medical workers in the DR Congo, has hampered efforts to stop the spread of the disease.

    It is hoped that the effectiveness of the drugs, made by US-based pharmaceutical firms, will make patients feel “more comfortable about seeking care early”, said Dr Fauci.

    But the best way to end the outbreak, he added, is “with a good vaccine”. A vaccine is a type of medicine that improves immunity to a particular disease, as a preventative measure.

    The World Health Organisation (WHO) says vaccines developed to protect against Ebola, which are allowed for “compassionate use” before official licensing, have proven highly effective.

    The current outbreak in eastern DR Congo began in August last year and is the biggest of the 10 to hit the country since 1976, when the virus was first discovered.

    In July, the WHO declared the Ebola crisis in the country a “public health emergency of international concern”.

    But it is dwarfed by the West African epidemic of 2014-16, which affected 28,616 people, mainly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. About 11,310 people died in what was the largest outbreak of the virus ever recorded.

    However, attempts to contain the latest outbreak are proving difficult. In particular, militia group violence and suspicion towards foreign medical assistance have hindered efforts.

    Earlier this month, three Congolese doctors were arrested in DR Congo over the killing of a WHO medic.

    About 200 health facilities have been attacked in the country this year, causing disruption to vaccinations and treatments. In one incident, family members assaulted health workers who were overseeing the burial of their relative.

    A 2018 study published in the Lancet medical journal says “belief in misinformation was widespread” concerning the Ebola outbreak.

    Scientists hail drugs

    Ebola
    Ebola Treatment Center

    Scientists are hailing two experimental Ebola drugs – Regeneron’s REGN-EB3 and a monoclonal antibody called mAb114. They were developed using antibodies harvested from survivors of Ebola infection.

    The treatments are now going to be offered to all patients in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

    They showed “clearly better” results in patients in a trial of four potential treatments being conducted during the world’s second largest Ebola outbreak in history, now entering its second year in DRC.

    The drugs improved survival rates from the disease more than two other treatments being tested – ZMapp, made by Mapp Biopharmaceutical, and Remdesivir, made by Gilead Sciences – and those products will be now dropped, said Anthony Fauci, one of the researchers co-leading the trial.

    The agency said 49% of the patients on ZMapp and 53% on remdesivir died in the study. In comparison, 29% of the patients on REGN-EB3 and 34% on mAb-114 died.

    Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told reporters in a telebriefing the results were “very good news” for the fight against Ebola.

    “What this means is that we do now have what look like (two) treatments for a disease for which not long ago we really had no approach at all,” he said.

    The agency said of the patients who were brought into treatment centres with low levels of virus detected in their blood, 94 per cent who got REGN-EB3 and 89 per cent on mAb114 survived.

    In comparison, two-third of the patients who got remdesivir and nearly three-fourth on ZMapp survived.

    Mike Ryan, head of the WHO’s emergencies programme, said the trial’s positive findings were encouraging, but would not be enough on their own to bring the epidemic to an end.

    “The news today is fantastic. It gives us a new tool in our toolbox against Ebola, but it will not in itself stop Ebola,” he told reporters.

    Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust global health charity, also hailed the success of the trial’s findings, saying they would “undoubtedly save lives”.

    “The more we learn about these two treatments, the closer we can get to turning Ebola from a terrifying disease to one that is preventable and treatable,” he said in a statement.

    “We won’t ever get rid of Ebola but we should be able to stop these outbreaks from turning into major national and regional epidemics.”

    Some 681 patients at four separate treatment centres in Congo have already been enrolled in the Congo treatment clinical trial, Fauci said. The study aims to enrol a total of 725.

    The decision to drop two of the trial drugs was based on data from almost 500 patients, he said, which showed that those who got REGN-EB3 or mAb114 “had a greater chance of survival compared to those participants in the other two arms”.

  • Ebola: FG orders surveillance across states

    The Federal Government on Friday called for increased surveillance at all entry points into Nigeria following the lingering Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

    Government directed all Port Health Service officials and other relevant agencies at such points of entry to heighten surveillance and ensure that all passengers coming into the country are screened.

    The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health, Mr. Abdulaziz Abdullahi Mashi, on an inspection visit to Port Health facilities at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, said that any suspected case must be presented for relevant tests in line with the global practice on disease emergency control and prevention.

    Mashi, who was accompanied by other top officials of the ministry and those of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), said he wanted to ascertain the level of preparedness of Nigeria for the worst.

    He said: “More doctors, nurses and other health officials would be deployed in the Port Health Services at the airport. Consumables required for day-to-day activities at the airport would also be adequately provided.”

    Read Also: No Ebola case in Nigeria, says FG

    Mashi met with the Permanent Secretary in the Lagos  State Ministry of Health, Dr. Titilayo Goncalves, and hailed the state for its preparedness and surveillance system against Ebola.

    He said the Federal Ministry of Health and Lagos State Ministry of Health had been working together to forestall the importation of any disease into the country and called for continuous collaboration.

    He said: “Lagos State is the entry point of most of the visitors to Nigeria. Therefore, there is need to heighten the surveillance system”.

    Responding, Dr. Goncalves dismissed social media reports about an Ebola virus carrier in Nigeria.

    She said the person in question was tested and the result was negative.

    “I want to authoritatively tell you that the patient was tested and the result was negative. She is well and has been discharged. Everybody should put his mind to rest; there is no Ebola in Lagos”, she said.

  • Second Ebola patient dies in Uganda

    A second person has died of Ebola in Uganda, just days after the first case was detected in the country, the health ministry said on Thursday.

    The 50-year-old woman who died on Wednesday night was the grandmother of a 5-year-old boy who became the country’s first victim of the highly infectious virus after returning from a trip to Congo, where over 1,000 people had died in the latest outbreak.

    A 3-year-old child was also confirmed to have the disease and is still hospitalised.

    Seven other people suspected of having Ebola are also in an isolation ward near the border with north-east Congo.

    Read Also: Deadly Ebola virus found in bat

    “She passed on yesterday at Bwera health centre but the baby, her grandson, is still alive,’’ health ministry spokesman Emmanuel Ainebyoona told dpa.

    The government has stepped up health control measures among communities along the Congo border.

    These include urging people to wash their hands with soap, avoid shaking hands or hugging and report people with Ebola-like symptoms.

    Authorities are also telling people to avoid large gatherings in places of worship and at markets, as well as funerals and weddings.

  • Ebola survivors suffer severe mental, neurological problems – Study

    People who survive the deadly Ebola virus can continue to suffer severe psychiatric and neurological problems including depression, debilitating migraines, nerve pain and stroke, according to a study.

    Researchers who analysed patients infected during the 2014 to 2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa found that some survivors had such severe health conditions that they were left unable to care for themselves.

    “We knew that a disease as severe as Ebola would leave survivors with major problems – however, it took me aback to see young and previously active people who had survived but were now unable to move half their bodies, or talk, or pick up their children,” said Janet Scott of Britain’s University of Liverpool, who co-led the research.

    She said the findings show a need for larger and more detailed studies of Ebola survivors compared to matched controls who did not get virus.

    Published in the Emerging Infectious Diseases journal, the study looked at patient notes from of more than 300 Ebola survivors in Sierra Leone, one of the countries worst hit in the 2014 to 2016 epidemic.

    Thirty-four selected patients were then asked to attend a joint neuro-psychiatric clinic in 2016 where they underwent a full neurological examination, psychiatric screening and specialist investigations including brain scan imaging.

    Read Also: Find lasting solution to farmers, herders crisis – NANS tells FG

    Patrick Howlett of King’s College London, who co-led the research, said its results showed that Ebola survivors can suffer with “Post-Ebola Syndrome” (PES), a wide range of disorders “from minor to extremely severe and disabling”.

    Neurological problems included stroke, debilitating migraine-type headaches and nerve pain, while the most frequent psychiatric diagnoses among the survivors studied were depression and anxiety.

    The 2014 to 2016 West Africa Ebola epidemic killed more than 11,300 people and infected around 28,000 as it swept through Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

    World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates suggest there are well over 10,000 people who survived the disease.

    The researchers said the findings pointed to an urgent need for specialist medical professionals trained in the needs of Ebola survivors and how best to treat PES.

    “Post-Ebola syndrome is not going away, and those with the condition deserve better treatment,” said Scott.

  • WHO prepares for worst case Ebola scenario

    … Hopes to deploy vaccine

     

    The WHO is preparing for the worst case scenario in an Ebola outbreak in a remote area of Congo, including spread to a major town.

    WHO Deputy Director-General of Emergency Preparedness and Response Peter Salama on Friday told a regular UN briefing in Geneva that he hoped the Democratic Republic of Congo would give the green light within days for the deployment of an experimental vaccine, but warned that the drug was complicated to use and was not a magic bullet.

    He said the WHO had alerted the nine neighbouring countries but currently regarded the risk of regional spread as “moderate”.

    NAN reports that on May 30, 2017, the regulatory and ethics-review boards in the DRC approved the use of an experimental Ebola vaccine to combat.

    The vaccines is called “rVSV-ZEBOV”.

    NAN reports that the WHO said 17 people have died since inhabitants of a village in the country’s northwest began showing symptoms resembling Ebola in December,

    This is the ninth time Ebola has been recorded in the Democratic Republic of Congo since the disease made its first known appearance – near the vast central African country’s northern Ebola river – in the 1970s.

    “One of the defining features of this epidemic is the fact that three health professionals have been affected,” Health Minister Oly Ilunga said in a statement. “This situation worries us and requires an immediate and energetic response.”

    Most of the cases so far have been recorded around the village of Ikoko Impenge, near the northwestern town of Bikoro.

    Congo’s long experience of Ebola and its remote geography mean outbreaks are often localised and relatively easy to isolate.

    But Ikoko Impenge and Bikoro are situated not far from the banks of the Congo River, a major artery for trade and transport upstream from the capital Kinshasa.

    The Congo Republic is just on the other side of the river.

    A spokesman for the director of epidemiology in Congo Republic said government experts would meet on Thursday to discuss measures to prevent it crossing the border.

    Nigeria’s immigration service said on Thursday it had increased screening tests at airports and other entry points as a precautionary measure.

    Similar measures helped it contain the virus during the West African epidemic that began in 2013.

    Officials in Guinea and Gambia both said they had heightened screening measures along their borders to prevent the spread.

    Democratic Republic of Congo’s health ministry said it had dispatched a team of 12 experts to the northwest to try to trace new contacts of the disease, identify the epicentre and all affected villages and provide resources.

    Ebola is most feared for the internal and external bleeding it can cause in its victims owing to damage done to blood vessels.

  • Ebola outbreak in Congo

    Ebola outbreak in Congo

    •Urgent need for proactive action by Nigeria’s public health system

    Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where the first Ebola virus was discovered in 1976, has lost three persons to a new outbreak of the deadly virus which is still raging in the northeast of the country. The World Health Organization (WHO) has responded to the new outbreak much faster than it did to the Ebola epidemic that killed over 11,000 victims in 2014 in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

    Nigeria lost eight persons to this disease when Patrick Sawyer entered the country from Monrovia via Togo, without anyone detecting that he was carrying the Ebola virus. Apart from the index case, seven other Nigerians died from the virus, including the doctor who treated Sawyer, Dr. Amayo Adadevoh. But for the quick intervention of the Lagos State Government and the support from the Federal Ministry of Health, Nigeria could have lost many more lives to the disease that affected people in Lagos and Port Harcourt, two major population centres. The recent outbreak in the Congo signals a need for the Federal Government and the states to accept the unexpected challenge posed by the highly contagious disease.

    It is thus remarkable that the Minister of Health has already directed that the country be put on Red Alert: “I have directed health workers to increase efforts at ports of entry, and to report any sick person or suspects to ensure that epidemiologists in the states conduct relevant tests.” This is as it should be, especially given the loss of eight lives to the 2014 outbreak that started in Liberia.

    Reasons for immediate response to Ebola in DRC are obvious. Although DRC is in Central Africa geopolitically, it is not geographically farther from Lagos than Liberia is, thus making the spread of the disease to Lagos a high possibility. Although there is no direct flight to Nigeria from DRC, there is one from Rwanda, one of Congo’s neighbours. In addition, travel in West and Central Africa is high even among countries without direct air links. For example, travel between Congo and Cote d’Ivoire is significant. And there is constant movement of people between Abidjan and Lagos and Ilorin. Most of such travel is by road. The popularity of inter-country travel by road in West and Central Africa suggests that Nigeria’s health authorities should not restrict screening and surveillance efforts to airports.

    It is commendable that the Federal Ministry of Health has stimulated screening and surveillance at Lagos and Abuja airports. Calabar and Uyo are two Nigerian cities that also need airport monitoring of passengers, as well as other border towns used by road travellers. It should be expected that in a country where herdsmen cross borders with their cattle and sheep at will and with ease without being questioned at entry ports in rural areas, we cannot take any chance with entry into Nigeria of another Ebola index case from Congo.

    It is bad news that surveillance protocols have not been extended to Seme border, the busiest entry point into Nigeria by road. We therefore urge the federal and state health ministries to move screening points, detecting machines, hand sanitisers, and other surveillance gadgets to Seme and similar entry points in the southeastern corner of the country.

    Just as the WHO has encouraged its member countries to take the Ebola outbreak in DRC “very seriously,” so should Nigeria raise awareness of its citizens about return of Ebola to the Congo, by reactivating and intensifying the Ebola awareness and sensitisation campaign that was popular in 2014. More specifically, citizens need to be reminded about the imperative of personal hygiene, especially use of sanitisers and suspension of consumption of bsush meat for now. Such public health campaign was of immense benefit to reinforcement of epidemiological surveillance and community engagement during the 2014 outbreak.

    Thus far, we commend the government for its speed of response and urge it not to relent in ensuring that all needed efforts to prevent spread of Ebola to Nigeria are taken religiously.

     

  • Can Nigeria handle Ebola outbreak?

    Can Nigeria handle Ebola outbreak?

    Last week, Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) claimed its first victim in Nigeria, though he was a foreigner. Patrick Sawyer, 40, a Liberian, died five days after his arrival from Monrovia. His death has sparked fear of the deadly virus emergence in the country. Can the government curb its spread? WALE ADEPOJU asks.

    It was a testy week for Nigerians. Barely hours after the reported arrival of an Ebola victim in the country, he was confirmed dead.

    The death of the 40-year-old Liberian, Patrick Sawyer, sparked fear that the disease is now in the country.

    The late Sawyer flew into the country from Monrovia, Liberia, aboard Asky Airline through Lome, Togo.

    On arrival at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, the late Sawyer was reportedly found ill. He had fever, diarrhoea and was vomiting.

    He was handed over by the airline to the Airport Health Services of the Federal Ministry of Health, which quarantined and transported him straight to a private hospital to avoid contact with the public.

    Experts from the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) and Lagos State Ministry of Health swung into action and collected some samples from him to determine the cause of his illness.

    The result was shocking. The Lagos State government called reporters to brief them.

    His blood sample was sent to Dakar, Senegal and Atlanta, Georgia, United States, to ascertain the real cause of his ailment.

    Despite the urgent specialised care provided for him, he died last Friday morning.

    Report from Monrovia, indicated that Sawyer was the second member of his family to die of Ebola virus in three weeks.

    Health authorities in that country are now investigating the degree of contact between them.

    Liberia’s Finance Minister Amara Konneh said the deceased was until his death a consultant at the country’s finance ministry.

    The patient’s remains, according to report, were cremated to prevent further spread of the disease.

    Minister of Health Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu said Sawyer was subjected to a thorough medical evaluation.

    Speaking in Abuja, Chukwu confirmed that the deceased’s blood samples were sent to an advanced laboratory at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), the World Health Organisation (WHO) Reference Laboratory in Dakar, Senegal and Centre for Disease Control (CDC) Laboratory in Atlanta, Georgia, which confirmed the diagnosis of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD).

    To contain the spread of the virus, Chukwu said certain measures had been taken by his ministry.

    They are: tracing and investigating the passengers on board with the patient; placing all ports of entry under red alert in line with WHO regulations; equipping all government tertiary health institutions in Nigeria to handle any emergency that may arise from the disease and providing supportive drugs and medical consumables at all entry points and stepping up collaboration with all the states of the federation.

    He said: “I want to assure the public that the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) is presently working with other ministries, agencies and international organisations and the Lagos State Government to prevent the possible spread of the virus.

    ‘‘Emergency operation centres have been established and coordinated by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) of my ministry in collaboration with an Inter-ministerial Committee set up by Mr President”.

    The committee, according to him, is headed by the Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku. It was set up to stimulate sensitisation of the public on the danger and preventive measures of EVD.

    Hot lines have also been opened to enquiries and complaints on EVD  cases.

    The minister said the following numbers had been opened to reach the centre: 08023210923, 08097979595 and 07067352220 with an email: ebolainfo@health.gov.ng.

    He urged Nigerians to be vigilant and ensure improved personal and environmental hygiene, adding that they should report any suspected case to the nearest medical facility.

    Besides, needed measure to control the possible spread of the virus has been taken care of by the ministry.

    Chukwu said Nigerians should be calm as there is no cause for alarm.

    Maku said jingles and other awareness programmes have been provided by his committee to help raise awareness in the media (conventional and social).

    He appealed to the media to support government’s effort in curbing the spread of the virus by airing the jingles and other programmes free.

    “This is a national emergency and so, I expect no demand for payment from any media to air the jingles and programmes prepared by the centre and Presidential committee on Ebola virus,” Maku said.

     

    What is Ebola virus?

     

    Is EVD, which has killed no fewer than 650 persons in West Africa, in Nigeria?

    EVD is a “very” deadly disease. It is also known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever (EHF). It has a 90 per cent fatality rate.

    It is one of the world’s most virulent diseases. Its virus is transmitted by direct contact with the blood, body fluids and tissues of infected animals or people.

    In Africa, infection has been documented through the handling of infected chimpanzees, gorillas, fruit bats, monkeys, forest antelope and porcupines found ill or dead or in the rainforest.

    The first case was recorded in Guinea. Liberia and Sierra Leone have since recorded casualties.

    Nigeria is vulnerable to an outbreak, yet it is shocking that the government is neither proactive nor aggressive in preventing an occurrence.  I should there be an outbreak, Nigeria does not have a laboratory that can diagnose Ebola. Samples have to be sent to countries, such as Senegal and the United States.

    President, Academy of Science, Prof Oyewale Tomori, said the Nigeria Academy of Science has observed that precautionary measures, such as effective laboratory diagnosis, strict barrier attention, public health education and awareness, as well as domestic airport monitoring of travellers, and other important actions to contain Ebola virus, are yet to be put in place.

    Responding to WHO’s warning to strengthen response mechanism, Prof Tomori, said: “If these things are not already in place by now, we are in trouble, should the disease enter the country today, especially if the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) strike continues.

    Tomori said the country is not yet prepared to handle an Ebola outbreak.

    He said: “One area we have neglected is our border. The Port Health team should have been up and doing, monitoring travellers from other West African countries, especially from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, checking them for fever on arrival, their travel history, among others.

    “The team must have the contact phones and addresses of such travelers. They should be monitored over a period of two weeks or more to check if they fall sick or display any sign of the EVD. Yet containing Ebola is simple, good surveillance before an outbreak to rapidly identify cases is the first step; while strict adherence to infection control within the hospital environment and avoiding direct contact with body fluids of an infected person, and with the body of an Ebola victim who has died are important.”

    Prof Tomori added:  “Healthcare workers must be able to recognise cases of the disease when they appear.

    “They should use barrier isolation techniques to avoid direct contact with infected people”.

    He said Nigeria does not have a laboratory that can diagnose Ebola, describing it as ‘the greatest shame of all’.

    “Besides, if we have any case in Nigeria now, the samples will have to be taken to the Centre for Disease Control (CDC), in the United States or other advanced countries; that is why a lot of health workers are getting infected.

    “There are no vaccines and there are no drugs to treat it. The drugs available are just to treat the symptoms unlike Lassa fever that one can administer drugs,” he said, adding that severely ill patients require intensive supportive care”.

    During an outbreak, those at higher risk of infection are health workers, family members and others in close contact with sick people and deceased patients.

    EVD outbreak can devastate families and communities, but the infection can be controlled through the use of recommended protective measures in clinics and hospitals, at community gatherings, or at home.

    According to WHO, Ebola is an often fatal illness in humans characterised by the sudden outset of fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. This is followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding.

    To contain an outbreak requires a strong response in the affected countries and especially along their shared border areas.

    Recently, the WHO organised a high-level meeting for the Ministers of Health in the sub-region in Accra, Ghana.

    It brought together Ministers of Health and the Directors of disease prevention and control from 11 African countries (Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Uganda), as well as partners, Ebola survivors, representatives of airlines and mining companies, and the donor communities. The objective of the meeting was to analyse the situation, identify gaps, develop operational response plans, and ensure increased political commitment and enhanced cross-border collaboration for EVD response activities among the countries in the sub-region.

    Ebola spreads in the community through human-to-human transmission, with infection resulting from direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes) with the blood, secretions, organs or other body fluids of infected people, and indirect contact with environments contaminated with such fluids. If an outbreak is suspected, the premises should be quarantined immediately. Culling of infected animals, with close supervision of burial or incineration of carcasses, may be necessary to reduce the risk of animal-to-human transmission. Restricting or banning the movement of animals from infected farms to other areas can reduce the spread of the disease.

    It is not always possible to identify patients with EVD early because initial symptoms may be non-specific. For this reason, it is important that health-care workers apply standard precautions consistently with all patients – regardless of their diagnosis – in all work practices at all times. These include basic hand hygiene, respiratory hygiene, and the use of personal protective equipment. WHO is not recommending any travel or trade restrictions be applied to Guinea, Liberia, or Sierra Leone based on the current information available for this event.

    Consultant Public Physician, LUTH,  Dr Sofela Oridota, said three factors that can predispose people to diseases are the agent, host and environment.

    He said: “Nigerians need to be educated that when they travel to those places where Ebola virus outbreaks were reported they should not touch any dead person, should they be involved in burial at all. And they should not touch dead bats or dead wild animals. If they are not exposed to some of the infected sources mentioned they would not contract the disease”.

    Dr Oridota said the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) and WHO have equally developed a manual for viral haemorrhagic fevers known as universal precaution manual, to protect health workers from contacting the virus, which any country can adapt.

    His words: “People who have been to the sites where there were outbreaks  have a high risk and as such should be identified and properly screened. This is known as contact tracing because they have a history of contact in the place they visited.”

    The community health expert said: “About 70 per cent of deaths are caused by ignorance and poverty. The government should increase surveillance to track the disease. There are other epidemics growing in the society from lifestyle diseases. These outbreaks depend on people’s hygiene level and lifestyle.”

    Dr Oridota said the spread of an outbreak can be contained by ensuring that those who have the Ebola virus are “barrier north” or secluded to avoid direct contact with them.”

    The public health expert said: “People can incubate Ebola from three to 21 days and still look okay. The government should create awareness for people not to touch dead bodies, dead animals or eat leftovers of fruits eaten by bats.

    The region, Oridota said, should ensure that there is “contact tracing” to stop the spread of the disease, saying those who have had contact with the cases of Ebola virus and who have not used universal precaution should be screened. Health workers should have a high index of suspicion when patients come to their facility and not assume that it is malaria a patient is suffering from. The government should also plan ahead. We should have a response system to track the virus in place. Experts cannot go and investigate Ebola without having a system in place, especially universal precaution materials. Hygiene and environmental sanitation are crucial to ward off an outbreak of Ebola in West Africa. Moreover, Nigeria and other countries in West Africa have what it takes to contain Ebola disease.

  • Health Minister debunks Ebola outbreak

    Health Minister Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu has debunked a report that there has been an outbreak of Ebola in the country.

    In a statement, he said laboratory investigation showed that it was a case of Dengue heamorrhagic fever (DHF) and not Ebola heamorrhagic fever (EHF), as erroneously reported.

    According to him, Dengue fever is caused by a virus called Dengue fever virus (DFV).

    The virus, Chukwu said, is transmitted by mosquitoes, mostly in urban and semi urban areas, adding that the mosquitoes (Aedes albopictus) are being monitored across the country by the Arbovirus Research Centre of the Federal Ministry of Health, Enugu.

    The minister said DHF is an acute illness of sudden onset, which usually follows a benign course with symptoms, such as headache, fever, exhaustion, severe muscle and joint pain, swollen lymph nodes (lymphadenopathy) and rashes.

    He said the prevention of transmission of DHF was similar to the prevention of Malaria.Chukwu urged people to clean their environment and control mosquito bite, to reduce mosquito-human contact.