This is official. Lagos is not the only
state in Nigeria that has been hit by the deadly Ebola Virus Disease;
Enugu has become the next in line.
Twenty one persons out of the 198 so far
quarantined because of the virus are in Enugu, says the Minister of
Information, Labaran Maku.
Maku told State House correspondents
after the Federal Executive Council meeting in Abuja on Wednesday that
Enugu came into the picture because one of the nurses that treated the
American-Liberian, Patrick Sawyer, shunned medical advice and travelled
to the city.
Sawyer, the index case of EVD in
Nigeria, died on July 25 in an Obalende, Lagos hospital five days after
he arrived in the country.
The matron of the hospital died last
week while an Economic Commission of West African States Protocol
Officer, Jatto Abdulqudir, who picked up Sawyer from the Murtala
Muhammed Airport, Lagos passed on on Tuesday.
He said all those the nurse came into contact with, including her husband, were currently under quarantine.
The minister said, “All those who had primary contacts have been quarantined. Secondary contacts have also been traced.
“So far, the number of people that have
been traced is 198. Out of this number, 177 are in Lagos. Some are in
quarantine, some are being monitored by health specialists.
“21 persons in Enugu are also being
watched. This is because one of the nurses that was involved with the
treatment of the index case, unfortunately, disobeyed medical
instructions and somehow travelled to Enugu.
“All those who she was in contact with,
including her husband, are under quarantine. The medical team have been
able to trace all those who came into contact with her.
“Health workers are now in all our border units. We also have health workers that are working in our airports and seaports.
“We are calling on citizens specifically
to cooperate. If health workers say you have had come into contact with
A,B,C, don’t move to anywhere, respect that judgment. It is very
important.
“In one or two cases where we have had
disobedience, we lost one of them and this one now moved with it to
another place (Enugu).
“So, we are urging Nigerians, please to
help us in making sure that all these messages and appeals we are making
on you, we implement them.”
On possible treatment, Maku said some
Nigerians who felt they could assist in developing therapies for the
virus had started approaching the government.
He said a special committee set up for
that purpose had started collating the various claims with a view to
verifying them and making recommendations to the government.
The minister added, “In terms of
possible treatment, the Ministry of Health has set up a special
committee specifically to take claims from Nigerians who believe they
could help and so far we have had a lot of reports from Nigerians at
home and abroad who came forward to say they have possibility of
developing therapies that could help in fighting the virus.
“There is no cure so far anywhere in the
world. Even the trial drug in the US is still a trial drug. It has not
been established that it can cure EVD
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