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Tag: Ebola

  • Ebola: 403 under watch in Rivers –Health Minister

    Ebola: 403 under watch in Rivers –Health Minister

    THE Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, has said that the spread of the deadly Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) would be checked, in River State as was done in Lagos State.

    The Minister made the vow yesterday in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, after a tour of the quarantine centre at Oduoha in Emuoha Local Government Area of the state and the National Centre for Disease Control Laboratory at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH).

    He was accompanied by the Minister of State for Health. Prof. Chukwu, who described the facilities at the centres as world class and expressed gratitude to the state government, the Ebola Emergency operation team, international agencies, especially the World Health Oragization (WHO), Doctors Without Borders, the Untied States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (USCDC) and volunteers for the good job they are doing in the state.

    “WE have visited everywhere; it is world class all through. We were at the State treatment centre, it is world class and the personnel there are in very high spirit. They are happy with what has been provided for them to work with. They are doing very well. “Everybody in the team is experienced and good at their job. We are impressed with what we’ve seen,” he said.

    Giving the statistics of the disease in the state, the Minister said 403 persons are currently under surveillance, and that there were four confirmed cases, two of which have already died. He listed the dead as Dr. Ikechukwu Sam Enemuo, a medical doctor and the woman who shared a hospital ward with late Enemuo at the Good Heart Hospital where he died. The widow of the late doctor and his sister are receiving treatment at the Lagos and Rivers quarantine centres respectively.

    Chukwu said there was the likelihood that more persons would come down with the disease in Rivers State, following their primary contacts with the deceased victims, but assured that the team in the state is ready to successfully manage them if such happens.

    “As of now, the number of people that have come forward and registered as contacts to the victims of the virus stands at 403. This number, however, is nothing, because we also gathered a similar number in Lagos, where we have discharged 320 who never had any contact after the 21 days observation. Such scenario is also likely to happen here in Port Harcourt.

  • FG orders schools to resume September 22

    FG orders schools to resume September 22

    The Federal Government on Friday directed all public and private schools in the country to reopen on September 22.

    Government had earlier last month ordered that schools should remain closed till October 13 due to the outbreak of the Ebola virus in the country.

    The Minister of Education, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, who disclosed this in Abuja after an emergency meeting with state Commissioners for Education warned that measures put in place to curb the spread of Ebola are still intact.

    Schools in Nigeria were initially expected to reopen for the new academic session in second week of September.

    The minister said all Federal Government colleges should also comply with the directive.

    Shekarau disclosed that any state Ministry of Education that has not appointed designated desk officers on Ebola information should do that before resumption date.

    He said the states’ ministry of education should ensure that at least two staff in each school – both public and private are trained by appropriate health workers on how to handle any suspected case of Ebola.

    He added that they should embark on immediate sensitization of teaching and non-teaching staff in schools on preventive measures.

    The training, the minister ordered must be concluded before resumption of schools.

     

     

  • Ebola: Plane carrying third U.S missionary leaves Liberia

    A plane carrying a third United States missionary infected with the Ebola virus in Liberia left the West African country’s capital on Thursday, and he will be taken to the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, a Christian organization SIM USA said.

    Dr. Rick Sacra, a 51-year-old Boston physician, is the latest worker for SIM USA to be infected with the virus that has killed more than 1,900 people.

    A Reuters cameraman saw Sacra, wearing a white protective overall, step out of the car that brought him to the tarmac. He walked onto the aircraft.

    The plane was expected to arrive in Omaha on Friday morning, and Sacra will begin receiving treatment in the hospital’s Biocontainment Patient Care Unit, the organization said in a statement.

    “Rick was receiving excellent care from our SIM/ELWA staff in Liberia at our Ebola 2 Care Center,” said Bruce Johnson, president of SIM USA.

    “They all love and admire him deeply. However, the Nebraska Medical Center provides advanced monitoring equipment and wider availability of treatment options,” Johnson said.

    Liberian Information Minister, Lewis Brown, confirmed that the plane carrying Sacra was identical to the Gulfstream jet that ferried Nancy Writebol and Dr. Kent Brantly, who had contracted the disease in July while working at the missionary group’s health facilities in Liberia.

    Sacra had volunteered to return to Liberia, where he has long offered medical services, when the two other U.S. health workers were infected.

    Writebol and Brantly have since recovered after being flown back to the U.S for treatment in an isolation unit at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.

  • Ebola: U.S. okays Nigeria’s approach

    Ebola: U.S. okays Nigeria’s approach

    The United States government praised yesterday Nigeria’s handling of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD).

    U.S. Under Secretary of State on African Affairs, Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, however, expressed concern about the spread of the virus in other West African countries.

    Mrs Thomas-Greenfield spoke when she visited the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu.

     She said: “I commend the Minister and his staff and the government of Nigeria on how effectively they have been working to deal with the Ebola outbreak here in Nigeria.

    “They are taking all the right steps to control this. And, they are having great success here. I appeal to the minister to assist neighbouring Liberia, Sierra-Leone as they also grapple with this terrible outbreak.”

    Mrs Thomas-Greenfield denied the allegation that U.S. was not ready to assist Nigeria, especially with the trial drugs.

    She said: “That is not correct; I think the Centre for Disease Control has proactively supported all the countries in the West African region in dealing with the situation. It is not about ZMapp. There were six doses of ZMapp available; they were all used. What is important is how to control the spread of the disease. And, that is exactly what is being done here in Nigeria; and efforts are being made to have the same kind of success in Liberia.

    “We are very concerned about the spread of the Ebola disease in Liberia, Sierra Leone and in Guinea. Efforts have been made proactively, every single day, with the support of Centre for Disease Control, WHO, medical community around, continent of African and around the world, to support the efforts to contain the outbreaks in these countries. Again, I really commend everything that is being done here in Nigeria to contain the outbreak.”

    The diplomat added: “I think the world is doing everything possible to control this disease. There are many diseases in the world. I mentioned to the minister that we are still wary about malaria. There are more people dying of malaria in Africa than those that are dying of Ebola. We are working on all of these to try to find a way of controlling them. It is not as a result of neglect, it is a result of hard work to continue to control the spread.”

    Reacting to the call on Nigeria to assist the other African countries plagued by the virus, Prof. Chukwu said: “Well, Nigeria has always been her brothers’ and sisters’ keeper. Nigeria helped and founded ECOWAS. You remember it was during Gen. Yakubu Gowon, when he was Head of States, that ECOWAS was established. And, Nigeria continues to play that leading role in ECOWAS. We are going to assist our sister nations.

    “United States of America has fully been part of this battle to contain the Ebola virus disease in Nigeria. CDC has done wonderfully well. Even if you go remotely, part of the infrastructure we have in Nigeria was because CDC worked with Nigeria to get them established. So, we are grateful to the government of United States; and the support continues to come in. Even some of the hand-held infrared thermometers we are using were provided by the United States government.”

    On the trial drug, the minister said: “The explanation has come on why that was impossible. But, we’ve done also well without ZMapp. Eight patients have been successfully managed and discharged. The point is that it is not all about ZMapp. So, we are going to assist other ECOWAS countries.”

  • Ebola: Lagos to provide 600 schools with pipe borne water

    Ebola: Lagos to provide 600 schools with pipe borne water

    To curtail the spread of Ebola among pupils, the State Government has directed its water corporation to connect about 600 public secondary schools to its mains for water supply.

    The Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Olayinka Oladunjoye, said yesterday during a sensitisation on Ebola for principals and head teachers of public primary and secondary schools and proprietors of private schools that the measure would help prevent the spread of the disease.

    She advised education stakeholders to inculcate in pupils the basic universal precaution of frequently washing their hands in the fight against the virus.

    Mrs Oladunjoye was represented by her Permanent Secretary; Mrs. Omolara Erogbogbo.

    She stressed the need for principals to be proactive in safeguarding the children in their care against Ebola which has killed eight persons in the country.

    Mrs Oladunjoye said: “As a responsive and responsible government, the state has deemed it fit to put together this sensitisation exercise in order to guard against the spread of the virus particularly among our students. And for us to achieve overall success in containing the virus, it has become imperative for us to organise this sensitisation programme to educate ourselves so that whatever knowledge we garner can be used to stop the spread.”

    The maintenance of personal and environmental hygiene and regular hand washing by students will go a long way in reducing the risk of infection and transmission of the disease, she said.

    The Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris said the importance of the exercise for key stakeholders in school health management cannot be overemphasised.

    He said: “By their nature, children especially the young ones, are very social beings that exhibit unhindered, innocent and almost carefree social interactions among one another such that limitations in contacts prescribed as a pillar of the Ebola containment strategy is observed more in breach rather than compliance in these ones. It is for this reason that I align with the State Ministry of Education for organising this sensitisation meeting involving the key relevant stakeholders in school health management”.

    The severity of Ebola, he said, necessitated extreme and aggressive measures to halt the spread.

    Some of the affected countries, he noted, had declared state of public emergency, restricting public gathering including closure of schools. Idris urged the public to imbibe the basic hand washing techniques in the fight against Ebola.

  • Ebola: Keep our schools shut!

    Ebola: Keep our schools shut!

    With the deadly Ebola virus in our land the federal government had shifted the resumption of schools from its earlier September date to October 13. Which was the proper thing to do. But after its meeting on Wednesday the September 14, it said schools may be able to resume in September.

    Since the date was moved to October 13, private school owners have continued to lobby for resumption of schools. Nigeria is a land of lobbyists. But not only them, those parents who cannot spend quality time with their children. A colleague once said “private schools are paid to let parents rest”. But while on my annual leave, I have enjoyed the “noise” of my two boys and watched both of them struggle to ride piggyback on me. They are safe here with me! But may not be if the federal government stops listening to its heart instead of its head!

    The health of our children and the entire nation is going to be sacrificed on the altar of money! If those private schools’ owners were given billions of naira monthly to keep their schools shut forever, they will go to the Caribbean for holiday while praising the government.

    We must know that the structure we have in privately owned schools is different from what we have in many public schools.

    Many public schools in towns and some so-called cities are over-crowded ramshackle. Some don’t have seats, while some use blocks as desks! Some even have classes under a tree! Some of the children are malnourished with poor immune system. Some have ring worms on their scalp and many other skin infections. We have not talked about the ones in remote villages! These children will go back to schools when there are fresh Ebola cases! They will go back to schools when those under surveillance are on the run! Only a morally depraved government and people can even consider that!

    We are still lucky things did not get out of control. In worst hit countries, it is not only schools that were closed but hospitals.

    Commentators have cynically called Nigerians’ mode the “panic mode”. But this is what we have used to contain the virus so far. And we won’t stop being in this mode. The word is eternal vigilance. Since my children have been at home they have not had a fever. But during school they are more prone to disease from other children, including mosquito bites. As long as fresh cases of Ebola are being reported now, if schools resume now, you are no longer in control of your children. Every time your children get back home, it’s no longer the same!

    Whether we like it or not Ebola has tasked all of us and our healthcare system, and it will still have a long-term effect. We must all be ready to adjust ourselves to the situation we have in our land. We now live in perilous times!

    From now till October 13, or even somewhere after that we would have known the prognosis of the new Ebola cases in Port Harcourt, and all those who are now under surveillance would have completed their statutory 21 days and we hope they would be truthful enough to tell us if they have visited other states! And those on the run would have come to their senses!

    Dr Adadevoh sacrificed her life for this cause! Anyone who dies now after Adedevoh had died will hurt her where she is. But a little more sacrifice from all of us will go a long way in ensuring that she and others who died that we may live did not die in vain.

    Why the hurry to resume schools? Even the Health Minister Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu himself warned: “We have not eliminated the disease! We have not eradicated it!”

    So far no child has contracted the Ebola virus. At least our tomorrow is preserved! But we can still keep them safer. With Ebola, you can never be too careful. But if the federal government out of sentiments decides to make schools resume hurriedly and God forbids Ebola strikes again and it is traceable to schools, the blood of those who die thereafter will be on the federal government, and those selfish private school owners!

    • Dr Cosmas Odoemena

    Lagos.

     

  • MTN donates protective equipment against Ebola

    MTN donates protective equipment against Ebola

    Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, has commended MTN for its public spirited gesture, which he said is a tradition associated with the MTN brand, especially in matters of Education and Health.  Governor Fashola stated this while receiving Personal Protective Equipment for healthcare workers and caregivers, donated by MTN Foundation in support of Lagos State’s effort at containing the spread of the dreaded Ebola Virus Disease.

    The donation was made under the MTN Foundation’s Community Support Project, which lends a helping hand to communities through infrastructure upgrade such as the provision of water boreholes, transformers etc for the benefit of people.  The presentation of personal protective equipment was a response by the Foundation in support of the systematic and professional approach of the Lagos State Health Team in curbing the Ebola scourge.

    Governor Fashola lauded MTN’s Private-Public Partnership model, which has seen the Foundation partner with government and other stakeholders in responding to different challenges in times of need, especially given the current health challenge faced by the country. “We are indeed grateful to MTN as it has been a tradition of theirs especially in matters of health and education. We also appreciate the health workers who in spite of the fear, worked tirelessly to bring the situation under manageable control. As much as we appreciate MTN’s gesture, we want to reiterate that the real challenge is human capacity, that is, the insufficiency of virologists and Ebola management experts,” said the Lagos State helmsman.

    Shedding more light on the presentation, Chairman, MTN Nigeria, Dr. Pascal Dozie, said the gesture was in support of all that the Lagos State government had done to contain the spread of the Ebola virus since it was first discovered.

    “MTN recognises the importance of collective effort and the role of the private sector in containing the spread and the impact of the disease and we take very seriously, our responsibility to provide a service that is essential in a period of national emergency as we have found ourselves. This is why we are making this donation of personal protective equipment to supplement measures to protect our frontline health workers and caregivers,” he stated.

    “We have also activated a 24-hour, seven-day a week help-line in conjunction with our call centers management partners where customers can get basic information on Ebola, with support from the Lagos State Ministry of Health, through the office of the Special Assistant on Public Health to the State Governor.

  • Profiting from Ebola Virus Disease

    Profiting from Ebola Virus Disease

    As the nation battles to curtail the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), Nigerians are more hygiene conscious, a development that has increased the demand for hand sanitisers. TONIA ‘DIYAN reports.

    In marketing parlance, the fear factor or “F” factor, is one of several factors that influence shoppers’ decisions. This factor, though hardly given a thought, now tops shoppers’ list.  No thanks to the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD).

    Indeed, since the first discovery of the EVD in Lagos last month, the “F” factor has played up on shoppers’ list, leading to the high demand for hand sanitisers. The ripple effect of this is that prices of the once unknown product has hit the rooftops. This follows the recommendations of the World Health organisation (WHO), Ministry of Health and other concerned bodies, on the efficacy of sanitisers in preventing the deadly disease.

    The Ebola virus is primarily transmitted through contact with body fluids of infected persons, their skins and mucous membranes being the main routes of entry.

    A statement by an online store, Kaymu, said the demand for hand sanitiser has increased by 130 per cent since the virus struck.  Sales of hand washes and lotions have equally increased significantly in supermarket and departmental stores across the Lagos metropolis.

    Ifeanyi Abraham of Konga online store lent credence to this when he told The Nation that since the coming of the EVD, the online store has recorded a significant  hike in sales of sanitary products on its portal, Konga.com.  At some point, Abraham noted, the online store ran out of sanitisers and other sanitary products unexpectedly, and had to quickly re-stock.

    “The demand for sanitary products has risen greatly since the outbreak of the Ebola disease. Our hand sanitiser sale has risen to about 200 per cent since the outbreak was first reported in Nigeria. We have customers, who buy in bulk as awareness of the EVD increases daily,” he said.

    Also, Jumia’s public relations officer, Tomiwa Oladele, confirmed that the outfit has recorded an 80 per cent increase in demand and sales of sanitisers since the death of the late Liberian-American, Patrick Sawyer, who ferried the EVD to Nigeria. “We have seen an increased purchase of the item in bulk, which indicates that people are buying and keeping it at home. We have sold over 5, 000 sanitisers in less than one month and we are still counting,” she said. And with a rising demand and the need to satisfy its customers, Oladele said the online store has had to create a section to have all sanitary products in one location for accessibility to customers.

    The said demand for sanitisers has also followed the law of demand and supply. Retailers of the product have seized the moment to significantly increase the price. For instance, an average size santiser, which used to sell for N200 before the EVD saga now sells for between N1, 000 and N1, 500, representing about 800 per cent increase. Oladele attributed the hike to the inability of producers to meet the demand for the product.

    The high demand has also led to sub-standard or unknown brands flooding the market. The unprecedented rise in demand, it was gathered, has encouraged some retailers  to introduce new, but substandard brands into the market as substitutes for much sought after brands, which are presumably expensive. Before the EVD outbreak, sanitary products accounted for a little percentage of the health category market sales, but it is now high on the demand chart for several weeks running.

    Interestingly, the EVD has brought with it a good side- promotion of basic hygiene to prevent the transmission of not just the diseases, but other germs and bacteria related diseases. This is by observing simple habit of washing hands with soap and water, hand-wash liquids and sanitisers. People now see the importance of washing their hands and using sanitisers as necessary after a visit to toilets or touching a dirty object.

    A visit to some major markets in the Lagos metropolis showed that shoppers and market women have formed new habits. Some now wear hand gloves to markets as some bankers now do when attending to their customers. Some do wear nose masks when counting money to shield them from respiratory penetration.

    Forming the ‘new fad’, market women now make bowls of water and soap handy for regular use after each transaction. Some also add salt into the water- a reasoning based on the believed efficacy of salt. Besides, fruit sellers now wash their commodities in salty water before displaying them and advise their consumers to do same at home before eating the fruits.

    The Palms Shopping Mall’s public relations officer, Precious Eweka, in Lekki,   explained that contract staff, cleaners and security are being advised on the deadly virus and how to keep safe.  The mall has also provided awareness messages on all electronic boards within the mall, in the toilets and the car park about the preventive measures to be taken, while hand sanitisers have been placed within the mall upon arrival.

    Shoprite’s George Ukwunna said hand sanitisers have been placed at strategic places inside the store. “We have hand sanitisers on our counters and entrance for shoppers. There are first aid boxes, in case there are minor injuries and safety point for emergency cases,” he explained.

    Marketing Manager, Ikeja City mall, Eniola Ositelu, also said the mall is putting in place some preventive measures to curb the spread of the disease.  He said the mall’s management distributed audio CDs at the mall to enlighten tenants and shoppers about the virus. “We have complemented that with circulating detailed information on the virus,” he said, adding: “There is provision for hand sanitisers in strategic places within the mall and it is expected to arrive before the end of the week.

    He continued: “Contractors have been dully intimated about the virus and are currently putting into place measures to ensure that the mall and its environs are safe for shoppers. Preventative measures have also been placed on electronic boards within the mall. We will also use our media platforms to inform shoppers and members of the public about the Ebola virus. Our mall is safe for shoppers and it remains the choice destination for shopping, leisure and entertainment.”

    At  local market such as Mushin and Ketu, market leaders said they have been told to wash their hands before and after attending to customers. “The orientation given to us is that our traders must wash their hands after collecting money from customers and we have made provisions for that. We have clinic around us where we are advised to visit,”a market leader said.

  • Adadevoh for burial September 12

    Adadevoh for burial September 12

    The remains of the late Dr (Mrs) Stella Adadevoh who was infected with Ebola after treating Patrick Sawyer, the Liberian who brought the disease to Nigeria will be buried  Friday next week .

    The burial  will be preceded by a memorial service at Holy Cross Cathedral, opposite City Hall, Lagos by 10am.

    The Nation gathered that the family has obtained the ashes of the late doctor, after the corpse was decontaminated and cremated by the Lagos State Government.

    Also, a Night of Tributes has been slated for Thursday by 6pm at Harbour Point Hotel, Lagos.

    The family said it decided to bury the ashes because, “in the future, people (society) may be taunting us and her son that his late mother has no grave.”

    “It was basically a cultural thing that informed us to decide to obtain her ashes for the burial. Committing the ashes to Mother Earth will strictly be a family affair; hence we have put up the Memorial Service and a Night of Tributes,” stated a family member.

  • ABU student suffers from Dangue fever, not Ebola -Dep Gov

    The 19 year old undergraduate student of Law in Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), who has been under quarantine at the teaching hospital of the University in Shika, Zaria for a strange ailment that was earlier suspected to Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) has been tested Ebola negative.

    Deputy Governor of Kaduna State, Ambassador Nuhu Audu Bajoga, told newsmen in Kaduna Wednesday that the student was suffering from ‘Dangue Fever’, not Ebola Virus Disease.

    Bajoga, who is the Chairman, Kaduna State Ebola Prevention and Control Committee said, “just as I told you about my doubt on the Ebola issue, I am happy to inform you that the result of the sample of the patient’s blood taken to a Lagos laboratory, came back this morning. The young man was negative of the Ebola virus.

    “However, the patient was tested positive for Dangue fever. I am told it is a very bad type of fever, but it is no where close to the Ebola virus. May I reassure our people that we ever ready to contain any outbreak of Ebola.
    And for now, and I pray forever, There is no single case of Ebola in Kaduna state.

    “We are waiting for more brief on the Dangue fever and we shall act in the best interest of the public”, he said.