The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Spread

  • How to prevent bird flu spread, by don

    How to prevent bird flu spread, by don

    Nigerian Institute of Animal Science (NIAS) Registrar Prof. Eustace Ayemere Iyayi has urged local authorities to adopt precautionary measures against the spread of avian influenza, commonly called bird flu.

    He called for improved supervision, investigation and early discovery of all bird flu outbreaks.

    Speaking with The Nation, following the confirmation of the flu in some parts of the country, he called for the prevention of poultry smuggling through the border.

    Iyayi, the immediate past Dean, Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, University of Ibadan, said NIAS  woud intensify its campaigns for the of those living in high-risk areas.

    He called on operators and animal health authorities to focus on management and supervision and keep a close tab on vulnerable residents.

    Meanwhile, new strain of bird flu has entered the country and has spread to 26 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), with over 3.5 million birds affected.

    To prevent the spread of the disease into their countries, Nigeria’s neighbours have proposed a ban on poultry and poultry products from Nigeria.

    Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, made this known in Abuja at a  meeting with commissioners for agriculture/livestock, states directors of veterinary services and major stakeholders in the poultry industry.

    He explained that the first outbreak of bird flu was reported in the country in 2006 and spanned  2008, but that it was eradicated through the World Bank-sponsored project and support from the country’s development partners.

    The minister said: “The disease is trans-boundary in nature and also trade-limiting; some of our neighbouring countries have proposed to ban poultry and poultry products from Nigeria. This may undesirably lead to an egg glut in the country.”

    Ogbeh said there were huge and unacceptable losses in the poultry industry and the nation as a whole, urging the commissioners to retrace their steps to provide safe food for Nigerians as well as ensure national self-sufficiency in food production.

    He noted that aside paucity of funds, other challenges that led to the outbreak of the disease were lack of compliance with on-farm quarantine measures and movement restriction; violation of bio-safety measures leading to rapid spread of the disease; and clustering of poultry farmers with limited adherence to hygienic measures.

  • Ebola: Spread the word and save the world

    Ebola: Spread the word and save the world

    The member representing Alimosho 1 state constituency in the Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Bisi Yusuf recently organized a public enlightenment campaign on the deadly Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) for members of his constituency. OZIEGBE OKOEKI was there. 

    The fear of Ebola disease has become the beginning of wisdom. And for a deadly disease that has no cure the only solution for now is enlightenment on preventive measures so as to curb the spread of the disease. This was why Hon. Bisi Yusuf, member of the Lagos state House of Assembly representing Alimosho 1 constituency organised a sensitisation programme on the prevention of the epidemic for his constituents last week at Ipaja.

    Scores of traders, politicians, residents, artisans, School teachers, religious and traditional leaders, CDA, CDC, members and others were attracted to St. Andrews Primary School, Ipaja venue of the event. Coming into the programme ground, your temperature is first checked with an infra ray thermometer,  you proceed to wash your hands with soap and sanitised water before you proceed to check your blood pressure and sugar level free of charge. Every person who came for the programme which was jam packed passed through this process before taking their seats.

    Speaking on why he organised the event Yusuf said, since the importation of the virus to Nigeria by the late Mr. Patrick Sawyer from Liberia and his subsequent death on Friday July 25, 2014, Ebola has become a monster to Nigerians. “And Alimosho is the biggest constituency in West Africa, apart from the land mass, it is the most populous. I represent them and I know Ebola is a deadly disease. It is more deadly than Boko Haram which is limited to a section of the country, but Ebola could ravage the whole place if not quickly controlled.

    “When I was campaigning, I said I would be a representative of  living souls not the dead. And I know if a single person contracts this disease in this constituency millions of people will go for it. Knowing that prevention is better than cure, the only thing I can do is to organise this type of a thing so as to bring the world to the doorstep of every member of my constituency”.

    According to him, because of the large population of the constituency, “I cannot call all of them here, so what I am doing is to train the trainers. All the artisans, tradesmen and women, market women and men, CDAs, CDCs, Kabiyesis, Baales, teachers, especially health teachers,  all of them in Alimosho are here. So that when they are trained here they would be able to create a desk with a desk officer who will be able to train others and watch over the children when they resume. They would also give them the rudimentary preventive measures to use”, he said.

    He disclosed further that he has branded an electronic motor that will go round market places and all the local councils on a daily basis to educate the people on the preventive measures. “Spread the word and save the world”, that is the slogan. You can see that when Ebola came into the country it affected Nigeria economically, socially, culturally and our image in the world; you see how European countries are treating our people and as a result of that I decided that none of my people shall be a victim of this monster they call Ebola”, Yusuf said.

    The lawmaker who is chairman, House Committee on Transportation, Commerce and Industry commended the Lagos House Assembly for being proactive, saying that, with what is happening, no lawmaker needed to wait for anybody to assist him to organise this kind of programme, adding that the Assembly had always risen to every occasion.

    He also said it was wrong for the government to have reversed the October 13, 2014 resumption date for school children, adding that he stood by the decision of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), which did not support the reversal. “We are always worshipping money in this country, the private schools owners are not concerned about the lives of the people, they place profit above people’s lives.

    “For me, I would not allow my children or grandchildren to go to school until October as recommended by NMA. They know the danger in the disease, and they gave a resumption date, government should not have reversed the decision since it is not the school owners that are controlling the country, the children are very vulnerable,” he stated.

    The representative of the Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Public Health, Dr. Yewande Adeshina, Dr. Jemilade Longe, who is also the Director of Disease Control in the state Ministry of Health gave the talk on Ebola and the preventive measures at the event.

    He said Ebola is a deadly disease that should be prevented from spreading in the country. He warned the people to avoid unhygienic behaviour, which he said is the best way to prevent the spread of the disease. He reminded them that Ebola started from Monkeys, bats, chimpanzees and some other bush animals.

    While tracing the history of the disease in the continent and in Nigeria, Dr. Longe advised that whoever notices the symptoms of Ebola such as high body temperature, vomiting, diarrhea, cough (which may contain blood), muscle pain, sore throat and others should go to the designated hospital in Yaba, Lagos.

    “The incubation period is between two days and 21 days. We have treated many people, who were later healed of the disease. When Patrick Sawyer died, we packed his bodies in multiple body bags, put him inside iron casket and later put him inside an incinerator. We now started aggressive contact tracing of those who had contacts with him including those that were with him in the aircraft, those who met him in the hospital and others,” he said.

    He also told the audience that the Lagos State Government is motivating the health officers that are taking care of Ebola patients with money ranging from N40,000 to N50,000 each daily and that the disease had almost been contained before someone, who was being observed took it to Port-Harcourt in Rivers State.

    According to Longe, the treatment of Ebola is very expensive. “But once you get the signs of the symptoms quickly run to the hospital. Let us know that the disease is deadly, so let us wash our hands regularly, use sanitizers, but washing hands with soap is better. There is no Ebola in Alimosho, even in the whole of Lagos, we have chased it away with the APC broom,” he assured the people

    The lawmaker, who was proud to say that the efforts put into the project is worthwhile also made sanitizers, and an audio visual CD on the disease and prevention  available to all those that were at the event free of charge.

    Some of the special guests at the occasion were Hon. Yinka Ogundimu from Agege Constituency 1 in LSHA, Chairman of Ayobo/Ipaja LCDA, Hon. Shakiru Yusuf, Oba of Ipajaland, HRM, Oba Sylvester Akiniyi (Ajagungbade 1), APC Chairman of Ayobo/Ipaja, Mrs. Toyin Onileyan amongst others.

     

  • ‘Barbers, others can spread Ebola’

    The Federal Government has been called upon to further sensitise market leaders; hairstylists and barbers’ on the  spread of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD).

    According to the Director, Public Affairs and Communication, Pfizer, Mrs Margaret Olele, the use of towel and other tools by these service providers could be sources of transmitting the EVD.

    She said it was saddening that airport workers; toll gate attendants and transport workers were yet to be fully equipped against Ebola.

    Mrs Olele said: “At the airports, security agents are still checking people’s suitcases with their bare hands. I witnessed this last week when I escorted my son to the airport. I had to give the policeman a pair of spare gloves (I carry them around these days.) Temperatures are checked; but the greater danger of transmitting the disease by these work-forces is real.

    “At Lekki toll gate, I observed a poor gentleman oblivious of the risk of EVD had no gloves on and had received monies from countless persons. At the Salon in Victoria Garden City (VGC), Lagos, workers are doing pedicure with bare hands, while well fed and self content women with the most expensive phones, rings and designer bags used wet towels already used by others. What will it cost to bring personal towels from their houses eludes me.”

  • What’s behind the WHO’s emergency declaration on the spread of wild polio

    What’s behind the WHO’s emergency declaration on the spread of wild polio

    THE WORD “emergency” was emphasized in the headlines about the World Health Organization’s May 5 declaration on the spread of wild poliovirus, and rightly so. The high season for the spread of the virus is approaching, and the WHO emergency measures are aimed at deterring transmission of the virus and protecting the hard-won gains of recent years.

    Actually, the polio situation this year has been promising in some places. In Nigeria, where the virus has been endemic, only two cases have been reported this year, following declines last year; in Afghanistan there has been some spillover from Pakistan but only one case of the endemic virus in more than a year. Dr. Bruce Aylward, assistant director-general of WHO for polio, said that in both countries “we’re at a level of control there that we’ve never seen” before. In Syria, where a civil war has raised concerns about the difficulty of carrying out vaccination campaigns, the last case was in January.

    The dark heart of the polio scourge lies in Pakistan. According to Dr. Aylward, of the 74 cases of polio due to the wild poliovirus this year, 59 have been reported from Pakistan and within Pakistan; 46 of those 59 were from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas; and 40 of those from just one agency or semi-autonomous administrative unit. By contrast, no other country this year has reported more than Afghanistan’s four cases, and three of those came from Pakistan.

    What caused the WHO to sound the alarm — this is only the second such emergency declared; the first was for the H1N1 influenza pandemic in 2011 — is the fear that travelers are spreading the wild poliovirus, threatening to export it to nations where it does not now exist. Many populations are at high risk of infection due to fragile states, war and broken immunization systems. The WHO estimates that about 60 percent of the cases last year were due to international travel. Although the virus mainly strikes young people, there was evidence that adult travelers were contributing to the spread.

    The target of the global polio eradication program has been to stop transmission by this year, but Dr. Aylward said Pakistan is the one country that is really “off track.” Attacks on polio vaccination workers there have stymied vaccination campaigns, opening a door to the highly contagious disease. The government has made some efforts in Peshawar to beef up security and resume vaccination campaigns, but it is not enough.

    The WHO has called for travel restrictions in Pakistan, Syria, Cameroon and elsewhere to stop the spread by those who fly or travel by land. It may be tempting for the affected nations to shrug and take half-steps, but the threat of polio spreading is very real and poses a danger not only for their own populations but also for peoples far beyond.

    – Washington Post

  • How to combat diseases’spread, by expert

    How to combat diseases’spread, by expert

    The Federal Government has been urged to enhance the biosecurity and health of livestock to reduce the spread of diseases across the country.

    This, according to the Deputy Director and Head, General Management Division, Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute (ARMTI), Dr Ademola Adeyemo, is to ensure that diseases affecting pigs and other animals does not pose a risk to people or become a food safety concern.

    To achieve this, he advised that animal health authorities establish and enforce testing protocols, identify gaps in biosecurity and work together to stop the spread of such diseases and the damage caused to producers, industry and, ultimately, consumers.

    To boost surveillance efforts, Adeyemo implored the government to equip researchers looking into animal diseases, to make models of the disease transmission and testing feedstuffs.

    Such modelling work,would assistant institutions and practitoners undertaking some experimental vaccines to treat animals with diseases.

    Besides, he added that the government track movements of animals, vehicles, and other equipment leaving affected premises,urging industry operators to increase assistance to producers who have experienced outbreaks in other critical areas such as disease surveillance, herd monitoring and epidemiological and technical support.

    Futher on traceability, Adeyemo said it would give the livestock industry an advantage in terms of animal disease response, food safety and market access.

    He explained that when animals leave one facility to go to another both the buyer r and receiver of those animals should report key movement information, including the departure and destination locations, the date and time of loading and unloading, the number of animals, the vehicle’s licence plate number and any required animal identifiers.

  • Spread of hepatitis C pinpointed

    UP to 180 million people are infected with hepatitis C.

    Scientists say they have, for the first time, worked out the pattern of spread of hepatitis C, showing early diagnosis is key to preventing epidemics.

    The researchers said their results would help tackle the disease’s spread.

    Globally, up to 180 million people live with the virus, most are unaware that they have it. Those infected do not develop symptoms for up to 20 years and spread it to others without realising.

    Study leader Dr Gkikas Magiorkinis, from Oxford University, said when people were infected with something such as flu it was very easy to work out where it had come from, because people knew they were infected within days.

    But with hepatitis C, no-one has been able to pin down how the virus spreads, because cases occur months or years apart.

    To overcome this problem, the researchers looked at four hepatitis C epidemics in Greece, using data from 943 patients collected between 1995 and 2000.

    The researchers said that people were more infectious at in the early days of catching hepatitis C because they had higher levels of virus.

    The evidence they have produced suggests programmes targeting the diagnosis and treatment of hepatitis C in high-risk groups as early as possible would prevent many new infections and associated health care costs many years down the line.

    About 20% of those infected will develop cancer or liver scarring after 20 years of infection, at which point the only treatment is liver transplantation, which costs about N25 million.

    Dr Magiorkinis, who did the work in collaboration with the University of Athens and Imperial College London, said the model had helped build a “solid argument” to improve early diagnosis and antiviral treatment in drug users.