Nigerians have been advised to be calm and not panic over the reported
case of Ebola Virus in Lagos State, with an assurance that no Nigerian
is infected with the virus.
Addressing a joint Ministerial Press
briefing of the Lagos State Ministry of Health and Federal Ministry of
Health on development concerning the disease on Monday, the Commissioner
for Health, Dr Jide Idris, affirmed that there had only been one case
of imported Ebola resulting in the death of a Liberian diplomat in
Lagos.
He
emphasised that health authorities were being very proactive about the
detection of the Ebola Virus in the Liberian, who was on his way to
Calabar for a conference, by ensuring that all contacts were being
actively followed.
Dr Idris said part of the measures taken after
the death of the Liberian was the demobilisation of the private
hospital where he was admitted and elimination of primary source of
infection.
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He stated that the decontamination process in all affected areas had commenced.
“The
corpse of the victim has since been cremated, and the ash is awaiting
further directives from the Liberian Embassy,” he said, commending the
Management of the hospital for effectively detecting a high-risk patient
within 24 hours.
“Adhering strictly to WHO guidelines, the body
of the deceased patient was decontaminated using 10% sodium hypochlorite
and cremated, with the permission of the government of Liberia. A
cremation urn has been prepared for dispatch to the family. The vehicle
that conveyed the remains was also fully decontaminated,” he added.
In
terms of contacts tracing, Dr Idris explained that so far a total of 59
contacts was registered consisting of 44 hospital contacts (38
healthcare workers and six laboratory staff) and 15 Airport contacts
comprising 3 ECOWAS staff-driver, Liaison, and Protocol officers,
Nigerian Ambassador to Monrovia, two nursing staff and five Airport
passenger handlers.
He further explained that out of the number,
20 contacts had been physically screened of which 50 per cent were of
the type one contact and another 50 per cent had type two contacts.
The
Airline manifest has not been provided by the airline at the time of
this report and therefore, the precise number of passenger contacts is
yet to be ascertained, especially as two flights were involved
(Monrovia-Lome and Lome-Lagos). There was no report of a medical
incident filed.
Dr Idris stated that an isolation ward was
designated by the Lagos State Ministry of Health at the Infectious
Disease Hospital, Yaba for case management while the designation of
three other health facilities is underway.
The Commissioner also
said a call-in team was established for the public to dial in and obtain
information on the Ebola Virus Disease while Toll-free lines were
obtained from a telecommunication service provider to be used for
answering questions, creating awareness, and receiving notifications of
any suspected case just as public awareness creation through social
media such as Twitter and Facebook’s accounts had been also activated.
The
President of the Nigerian Academy of Science, Professor Oyewale Tomori,
who was also at the briefing said all the contact persons are being
screened on a continuous basis to look for any possible signs of the
disease.
He commended the timely action taken by the Lagos State
Government and the private hospital adding that there is absolutely no
need for people to panic as the golden rule is to observe the personal
hygiene of always washing the hands regularly with soap.
In a
statement issued after the press briefing, a spokesman for the governor
of Lagos State, Mr Hakeem Bello, assured Nigerians that both the State
and Federal Governments were well prepared to ensure that the Ebola
Virus Disease did not spread.
Also at the briefing were the
Special Adviser to the Governor on Information and Strategy, Mr Lateef
Raji and Permanent Secretary Ministry of Health, Dr Modele Osunkiyesi,
Permanent Secretary, Health Services Commission, Dr Hamid Balogun and
Permanent Secretary Primary Health Care Board, Dr Kayode Oguntimehin.
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