The
Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, on Saturday dispelled
rumour of the outbreak of Ebola virus in Nigeria, saying surveillance
has been intensified to prevent occurrence.
A statement by the
Special Assistant on Media and Communication to the Minister, Mr Dan
Nwomeh, said the attention of the ministry was drawn to a media report
on the disease in Nasarawa State.
“The report is not true and should be disregarded. The said case is yet to be diagnosed and confirmed as Ebola virus.
“The
general public should please note that the authority to confirm the
outbreak of disease epidemics rests with the minister of health.
“The
institution that is mandated to investigate the outbreak of diseases
and advise the minister of health is the Nigeria Centre for Disease
Control,” the statement said.
It said based on available
information from the NCDC and the minister of health, there was no
outbreak of Ebola virus in Nigeria.
It said the Ebola virus does
not the only cause of hemorrhagic fever; all suspected cases of viral
hemorrhagic fever are subject to laboratory analysis and confirmation.
The
statement said Nigeria had the capacity to diagnose the disease if it
appeared in the country and the NCDC was currently studying outbreak
trends of the virus.
The NCDC had mobilised rapid response teams
and developed a detailed response plan that included a comprehensive
health education and health promotion to sensitise Nigerians, the
statement added.
It said that surveillance had been stepped up to
detect and treat the disease, just as treatment and isolation centres
had been mobilised in case of outbreak.
“The Federal Ministry of
Health is working closely with West African Health Organisation and the
World Health Organisation and is ready to deploy experts to Guinea to
strengthen its response capacity.
“Although the health
institutions have been put on red alert for Ebola here in Nigeria, the
WHO does not recommend any travel or trade restrictions to Guinea in
respect of this outbreak,” said the statement.
The health ministry advised the general public to take precautionary measures to avert the outbreak.
The
statement advised persons coming from Ebola disease-affected countries,
who might have symptoms of high fever, headache, severe abdominal pain,
diarrhoea and bleeding, to report to health authorities on arrival.
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